


Drunk

by JWade



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M, Tear Rating: 5/10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-14 07:47:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 44,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13003125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/pseuds/JWade
Summary: After law school graduation, Sam's friends take him out drinking and then dare Sam to break into his brother's apartment. Too bad he's too drunk to know where his brother lives and gets the wrong one.





	1. Chapter 1

Sam stumbled out of the bar, heading to where he was pretty sure his brother’s apartment was. His friends had dared him to break into his brother’s apartment and rearrange his furniture and Sam was just drunk enough to accept. He found what he thought was the right building and climbed the fire escape, though how he did so without falling and killing himself he would wonder about for the rest of his life. He jimmied the window open and literally fell inside with a loud crash, knocking all the drying dishes off the side of the sink, absently wondering when Dean’s window started opening in his kitchen instead of the living room. From that point he would need to be told about the next events once he was a little less drunk. 

The light flashed on and a short blonde man with a baseball bat was standing there like he wasn’t sure what to do about the groaning and bleeding man laying on the floor. He could smell the alcohol on him though, and approached warily. Until a small dog rushed over and started licking the guys face that was. He couldn’t be a bad guy if Oreo liked him. About that time the guy looked up and said, “You’re not Dean.” At least that’s what Gabriel thought he’d said. It had been rather slurred. That was enough for Gabriel to at least begin to piece together what was going on. The kid had gotten drunk and tried to get into an apartment of someone he knew and got the wrong one. He suppressed the urge to laugh as he helped the guy up. 

“Nope. I’m Gabriel,” he said amusedly. “And you’re drunk.”

“Am not,” Sam slurred even as he leaned on the little man for support. 

“Whatever you say, champ. Come on,” Gabriel said leading him over to the couch and laying him down before picking the glass out of his few wounds and digging in his medicine cabinet for the most annoying bandaids he could find before he found some Hello Kitty bandaids his niece had left and he smirked. Would serve the guy right for trying to break in. By the time he got back to the couch, the drunk guy was completely passed out, so Gabriel just put the bandaids on and covered him up before going back to bed himself. He would deal with this in the morning when the kid was sober. 

 

Sam woke the next morning to the smell of bacon and he blinked his eyes open to find himself in an unfamiliar apartment and wondered what the hell had happened. He turned his head to look around and groaned. “There’s some water and asprin on the table next to you,” he heard an unfamiliar voice say and he wasn’t even worried about that right now as he squeezed his eyes shut and groped around blindly for them. He heard a soft chuckle as they were placed in his hand. He drained the whole glass of water before it dawned on him that he didn’t know where he was or who was here with him so he pulled himself to sitting, noticing the warm blanket that had been pulled over him and the dog at the end of the couch, by where his feet had been thumping his tail and waiting for attention. 

“What happened? Where am I?” Sam asked. 

“Well, you busted the lock on my window and fell in, knocking my dishes to the ground in the process and falling on them, hence the cuts. I can only assume you climbed up the fire escape and how you managed that in your state without killing yourself is pretty much the definition of a miracle. Breakfast will be ready in a minute.”

Sam vaguely remembered climbing up the fire escape and the dare from his friends to break into Dean’s apartment, but this wasn’t Dean. He had seriously broken into a stranger’s apartment. Oh god. “Wait a second…You’re saying I broke into your apartment in the middle of the night, broke things, and you…what? Patched me up, let me sleep on your couch, and now are making me breakfast?” Sam asked incredulously. 

Gabriel just laughed. “Oh, I’ll be getting you a bill for the broken lock and the dishes,” he said amusedly. “But otherwise yeah.”

“What if I was a serial killer or something?” Sam asked completely baffled. 

“Well Oreo there liked you, so I knew you couldn’t be a bad guy, and we’ve all done stupid shit when we were drunk. Hell, once I stole a police car. Or tried anyway. It had one of those automatic shut offs and I didn’t get more than two blocks before they cut the engine. Of course, I thought I was still driving, so I was just sitting there when they came to get me.”

Sam was still trying to wrap his head around his own situation and thus ignored the man’s own story. “So just because your dog liked me, you let a potential crazed killer stay in your apartment and didn’t call the police?” 

“Ah, but you weren’t a potential crazed killer. Oreo is a very good judge of character. Here. Breakfast,” Gabriel said plopping a plate in front of Sam and shooing the dog off the other end of the couch, so he could plop down with his own plate. “I skipped the pancakes this morning. Wasn’t sure if your stomach would be up to it, but bacon and eggs is always good for a hangover.”

“I don’t get you,” Sam said confusedly blinking at the man. 

“I get that a lot,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “So, the only thing I managed to get out of you last night was that your name’s not drunk, so…”

“Sam. I’m Sam.”

“And since I doubt you caught my name last night, I’m Gabriel,” he said holding out a hand to shake that Sam took on autopilot, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on here. “You really should eat. It’ll help.”

“So, you’re seriously not going to turn me in?” Sam asked as he took a tentative bite of his eggs. 

“Like I said, we’ve all done stupid shit when we get drunk. It’s like a right of passage or something, so no. I’m not gonna make you have a record over it,” Gabriel said with a laugh. 

“Thank you,” Sam said seriously. 

“So, what do you do, Sam?” Gabriel asked trying to make conversation. 

“I just graduated law school. That’s what last night was about. Some friends took me out to celebrate and then dared me to break into my brother’s apartment and rearrange his furniture. I guess I got the wrong one. Sorry,” he said sheepishly. 

Gabriel couldn’t help another laugh at that. “Out of curiosity, what apartment is your brother in?” 

“420,” Sam told him and Gabriel just laughed even harder. “What?” Sam asked. 

“You didn’t just get the wrong apartment kiddo. You got the wrong building. There’s no 420 in this building,” Gabriel said even more amused. 

“Oh,” Sam said with a blush. “What’s the address here?” 

“777 Paradise Way,” Gabriel told him. It wasn’t like Sam wouldn’t be able to check the address when he left after all, so there was little point in not telling him. Sam groaned and put his head in his hands. “Why where’s your brother live?” 

“On the other side of town,” Sam said embarrassedly, and Gabriel practically roared with laughter. 

“That must have been some bender,” Gabriel joked as he handed a piece of his bacon to the dog, who had been sitting quietly, waiting. Once he had gotten a piece from Gabriel he went over and sat next to Sam, watching him. 

“Can I?” Sam asked, and Gabriel nodded, so Sam broke off a piece of his bacon for the dog who took it gently. “He’s very well behaved,” Sam praised. 

“He just knows if he gets all hyper and starts begging he doesn’t get any,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. “That was one of the first things I broke him of.”

Sam finished his breakfast and reached out a hand to the dog, who bounded over and hopped on Sam’s lap for Sam to pet him. When Gabriel grabbed the dishes to take them to the kitchen, Sam said, “I’ll wash the dishes. It’s the least I can do.”

“S’okay. You’re probably still not feeling up to snuff. I got it. Besides, I have considerably fewer dishes than I did last night anyway,” Gabriel teased. 

“So, what do you do?” Sam asked curiously, intending to find a way to pay this guy back for everything. 

“I own the bakery around the corner,” Gabriel told him. 

“Heavenly Delights?” Sam asked incredulously. “That’s yours? My brother swears by your pies.”

“Yep. That’s mine,” Gabriel said proudly. 

“This is a pretty nice apartment for a baker,” Sam said, not having engaged his brain to mouth filter yet. He realized what he’d said as soon as it came out though. “I meant…I didn’t mean…”

Gabriel just laughed again. The amusement he was getting from this situation more than made up for the hassle. “Ah, but I’m not just a baker, dear Samsquatch. I am a small business owner.” He paused for a moment before he added, “Plus my family is loaded.”

Sam couldn’t help but laugh at that as he shook his head. “Well thank you again for all this,” Sam said as he pulled himself to his feet, the dog jumping off his lap. He didn’t want to take up any more of Gabriel’s time. “Just let me know how much I owe you, and I promise I’ll pay it.”

Gabriel turned, drying his hands, and looked Sam over for a moment before saying, “I’ll tell you what. Buy me dinner tonight and we’ll call it even.”

The way he’d looked Sam over left no doubt in his mind what Gabriel was thinking and he stammered for a second, thinking he’d finally found the catch. “You mean…you want…”

Gabriel could see what Sam was thinking and cursed himself for coming on too strong. “I want dinner, Sam. That’s it. I wouldn’t say no to more, mind you,” he waggled his eyebrows, “but all I’m asking for is dinner.”

“Okay. Yeah. Dinner I can do,” Sam said with a relieved smile. Maybe more even. He would have to see. 

“Great. Pick me up at six. You know where I live,” he teased. Sam laughed as he headed out. “You need a ride anywhere?” Gabriel asked before he left. 

“I got it, Gabriel. Thanks,” Sam said with a smile as he closed the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam had to take two busses to get back to his motel. He had just gotten back to town the night before last and hadn’t had a chance to go apartment hunting yet. He had been hired at a local law firm and his signing bonus was enough to get him into somewhere at least. Of course, Dean had offered to let him stay with him, but Sam was adamant about standing on his own two feet. He stopped on the way and bought a newspaper, glad that today was Sunday, and he planned on getting into the listings to find an apartment and maybe even do some checking them out today. He needed something to keep his mind off his date tonight anyway, so he wouldn’t get too nervous. 

He knew that it didn’t have to be a date. Gabriel had made that clear when Sam had started to get flustered. It was just two guys having dinner, and beyond that it was up to Sam. He would be lying if he said that he wouldn’t like it to be a date though. Gabriel intrigued him. He had this almost ethereal innocence about him, but Sam could sense a lining of steel in there too. Sam had no doubt that if he had turned out to be a killer or something, Gabriel could have torn him to shreds, size difference notwithstanding. Still, he had never known someone who could just shrug things off like that, and be so kind to a stranger that broke into his apartment in the middle of the night. There was just something…special about him. 

It wouldn’t be the first time Sam had dated a guy either. During college he’d had two boyfriends and a girlfriend. The first boyfriend was rather short-lived, and then he met Jessica. Thankfully, they realized they were better off as friends just before he popped the question. They were still friendly, but they had grown apart once he started law school and got too busy. It didn’t help that she was in medical school and even busier. His second boyfriend, after Jessica, was a nightmare though. Gordon had been possessive and controlling. At first, it hadn’t been so bad. Sam had even thought it was sweet, but it quickly took a turn for the worse. Sam couldn’t dare be seen even speaking with someone else or he went nuts. The last time Sam had seen him was when Gordon went off and tried to kill him. Sam laid him out and then walked out. He’d never even looked back. That had been about a year ago, and he heard that Gordon had ended up in jail not long after for assault and attempted murder. He wasn’t exactly surprised. He just hoped that Gabriel didn’t end up being another Gordon. He couldn’t see it, but then he hadn’t seen it then either until it was too late. 

Sam found three prospects in the paper within his budget that didn’t seem like slums, so he made the phone calls and went out looking at them. The first one wasn’t bad, but it was rather cramped. The square-footage was fine, but the layout seemed more like a toddler designed it. There was almost more hallway than rooms. Needless to say, he would only take that one if neither of the others were any better. The second one though was very nice. It was spacious and roomy, and he couldn’t find anything wrong with it aside from the fact that he would need a lot of power strips. There was only one outlet in the bedroom, the living room and kitchen had two, and there wasn’t one at all in the bathroom. It also didn’t have room for a washer and dryer, having a laundromat next door instead. Still, it was better than the first. 

The third one, Sam had saved for last only because the building was next door to Gabriel’s. He didn’t want to seem like he chose this one just for the proximity to the guy he was going on a date with tonight. The second he walked into the apartment though, he knew this was the one he was going to take. The living room and kitchen were a bit smaller, but the bedroom was much bigger, an office nook accounting for the extra space. It even had an appropriate number of outlets and a hall closet that would work as either a washroom or a closet. It even already had the hookups available for a washer and dryer, though none came with the apartment. All it came with was the standard appliances, meaning a fridge and a stove. It was perfect. Sam quickly signed the lease and wrote a check for the first month and deposit, leaving him with about seven hundred dollars to get his cable and internet hooked up, electricity was included in the rent for the whole building, and get the place furnished. Of course he would also need some to live on until he got his first paycheck in two weeks after starting his job next week. They had given him a week to get moved and settled before he was set to start, and payday was always on the fifteenth of the month, though this month would be short since he was missing the first week. 

By the time the apartment was chosen, Sam had finally gotten rid of his hangover and it was just after noon. He would have time to do a little shopping for the new place before he had to go back to the hotel and get ready for his date. He decided to just worry about groceries and household supplies for now, and deal with everything else tomorrow. He would stay one more night at the hotel tonight before moving in. 

By the time he had gotten ready, wearing a suit without a tie and with the top button of the shirt undone, he was starting to feel like a ping pong ball. He’d gone from Gabriel’s area back to the hotel, back to Gabriel’s area to get the apartment, back to the hotel to get ready, and would have to do the whole trip at least once more tonight. At least he had thought to get a bus pass instead of paying per trip. It would practically pay for itself just today. Once he was ready, he took one more look in the mirror before taking a deep breath and heading out. He planned to take Gabriel someplace rather nice tonight, mostly to make up for everything, of course, but also because he really kinda liked the guy and hoped they hit it off. 

Sam looked at his watch, seeing that he was right on time, due partially to loitering outside for five minutes before coming up, and he knocked on the door. Gabriel opened it after a moment, and looked Sam up and down with a grin before opening the door. “Come on in. Nice of you to use the door this time,” he teased. 

Sam chuckled. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” 

“Nope,” Gabriel said amusedly as he grabbed a jacket from the closet. He hadn’t been sure of the dress code, so he picked something that could be modified to go either way in very little time. He was wearing a deep red button up shirt, and black slacks. Throwing a jacket over it would make it match Sam’s fancier dress. “Where we headed?” he asked Sam, who was petting Oreo on the way out. 

“I was thinking Caruso’s if you’re good with Italian,” Sam suggested. 

“Sounds perfect,” Gabriel said cheerfully. He wasn’t sure if Sam had picked the place because he wanted to impress or because he wanted something nice and pricey to pay him back for this morning, but he found himself hoping it was the former. It had been a long time since he’d dated anyone, and while Sam was a little on the young side, he wasn’t quite young enough to be considered robbing the cradle. Assuming of course that he wasn’t some prodigy who graduated law school at twenty. He should probably find a way to bring that up over the course of the evening.


	3. Chapter 3

Caruso’s wasn’t far from the apartment, so they just walked the four blocks to get there, keeping up light conversation. Once they were seated, Gabriel ordered them wine, insisting on paying for that part. He had rather expensive tastes, after all. When the waitress carded them, Gabriel tried to sneak a peek at Sam’s ID, but apparently, he wasn’t sneaky enough because as soon as she left, Sam laughed and said, “I’m 26.”

“Ok good,” Gabriel said with his own chuckle, not particularly embarrassed about being caught. “Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t trying to rob the cradle too badly.”

“How old are you?” Sam asked curiously. He had long been of the opinion that age was nothing more than a number after a certain point, so Gabriel’s age wouldn’t really be a factor in his deciding whether or not to pursue something here. 

Gabriel, unfortunately, didn’t know that, so was slightly worried as he said, “38.” He was only slightly worried because either way he would get a nice meal and good company out of this, and it wasn’t like he had a great level of attachment to Sam just yet anyway. Still, it was good to get it out of the way early before he formed an attachment and then found out that it bothered Sam later. 

“Nope. Not cradle-robbing. I’m still within the limit after all,” Sam joked after doing some quick math for the generally accepted half your age plus seven rule, even if he was only barely within that range. 

Gabriel’s grin just got wider at that. Not only did Sam not mind the fact that he was older, but he had basically confirmed that he wouldn’t mind this being somewhat date-like. Still, Gabriel had no intention of making any first moves. First of all, he had basically blackmailed Sam into this. Getting a meal from it was one thing, but anything more wouldn’t sit right with him. Second, for all he knew, Sam was just kidding, and didn’t want to scare him off, so he kept it nonchalant, as they chatted amicably over the meal. When it came time for dessert, Gabriel warned, “Just a heads up, I’m a bit of a dessert snob.”

“I would imagine, owning a bakery and all,” Sam said understandingly. “Can’t help but compare.”

“Exactly,” Gabriel said with a nod. “But half my employees have been poached from places like this too.” 

Sam laughed outright at that. “You looking for anyone now?” he asked curiously, wondering if he was planning on testing anyone tonight. 

“Yes and no,” Gabriel said with a shrug as he perused the desert menu. “I don’t technically ‘need’ anyone, but I never really do. I do a lot of the baking myself anyway. I could use someone though if they impress me enough.” 

Gabriel ended up ordering a chocolate mousse, knowing that was a difficult one to get right, and Sam ordered a slice of cheesecake. The lawyer didn’t usually indulge in sweets, but every once in a while it was nice, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Gabriel pronounced his desert acceptable but nothing overly special and Sam offered him a bite of his cheesecake, holding the fork over the table to feed Gabriel, fully intending the romantic implications of such an action. He had realized over the course of the meal, that he definitely wouldn’t mind having something with Gabriel. He was funny, kind, easy-going, and most importantly, not pushy in any way, boding well for any future interactions. His love of life was nearly contagious. Not to mention there was just something about him that drew Sam in like a moth to a flame. 

Sam was even surprised to find that after the meal, he didn’t really want the evening to end, so he suggested they take a walk to work off some of their food. Gabriel gave a theatrical gasp and grabbed his chest. “Why, Sammy, are you saying that I’m fat?” 

The twinkle in his eyes and the grin on his face were enough to tell Sam he wasn’t serious, so Sam felt free to make a joke. “I don’t know. You do seem a little soft around the middle,” Sam teased poking Gabriel in the stomach and they both laughed. 

Sam had no way of knowing that he was hitting a sore spot with Gabriel, nor did Gabriel have any intention of cluing him in, but he did find his old insecurities rising to the surface after that comment. He just pushed them aside with practiced ease, trying to forget about them altogether, but knowing it would be pointless. He soon had other things on his mind though as once they were outside walking, Sam’s hand brushed against Gabriel’s, hooking his pinky around Gabriel’s index finger in invitation, and Gabriel had every intention of taking it. He didn’t even hesitate to slide his hand into Sam’s and the taller man threaded their fingers together with a grin, glancing over at Gabriel as he did, seeing the same contentment echoed on his face. 

Eventually, though, all good things must come to an end. It was only ten o’clock when they returned to Gabriel’s apartment, but Gabriel did own a bakery and had to be there at an ungodly hour to open it on Monday morning, so it wasn’t really surprising. Once they got to the door, Sam took a deep breath to steady his nerves before leaning down to kiss Gabriel gently. Gabriel just smiled and leaned into it, kissing him back just as sweetly. Neither moved to deepen the kiss, and Gabriel didn’t even consider inviting Sam in, as much as part of him just wanted to get laid, but no. He was hoping for a bit more than a roll in the hay from this one. He could be patient. When Sam pulled back a moment later he asked in almost a whisper, “Can I call you sometime?” 

“I’d be offended if you didn’t,” Gabriel joked before pulling a pen from his pocket and writing his number on Sam’s hand. He pressed one more quick chaste kiss on Sam’s lips with a quiet, “Goodnight.” As he let himself into his apartment and closed the door behind him. 

Sam just grinned widely as he turned and left, taking the long trip back to his hotel. The next morning Sam got out of bed with a spring in his step. Not only had he had a great night, but he was moving into his new apartment today. He knew that he couldn’t really afford to buy all new furniture, not right now anyway, so he made his way to the flea market. He wasn’t really a fan of shopping, but a flea market was more like a treasure hunt than shopping. He made a couple calls before he left, first to rent a truck for the furniture, then to schedule the hookup of his cable and internet which couldn’t be done until tomorrow. 

He ended up finding an old couch that was in good condition and very comfortable, it just had a large rip in the back making it only ten dollars, but Sam hardly cared. That was the part that would be against the wall and thus hidden anyway. Some chipped wood coffee and end tables at twenty bucks for the set and an entertainment center with one door broke off for another ten rounded out his living room, so he went to check out bedroom furniture. His mattress he was going to buy new of course, but he managed to get everything else for his bedroom for under fifty dollars too and then a twenty dollar dining room set that was missing the fourth chair and the center piece that would allow it to expand. The tracks were rusted over anyway making it a moot point and Sam doubted he would ever need to expand it anyway. His office was just as cheap to outfit, with just a desk and a couple bookshelves. A computer was something he wouldn’t be able to skimp on and would cost a pretty penny, but he did find an older printer/fax machine combo that would be fine and only set him back five dollars. He got a large, but very old and out of date television for the living room that he had every intention of replacing once he was on his feet a little more, but it would do for now. He had a rather large dvd collection still from college and got to keep the dvd player since his roommate had upgraded to one of those new blu-rays just before graduation. He had picked up a few cheaper nick-knacks over the course of his shopping to give the place a more homey feel, but it was almost lunchtime by the time he finished. By the time he had stopped by the mattress store for a new mattress, it was lunchtime. 

He considered the idea of stopping by the bakery for lunch, but he wasn’t sure if that would be too much. They had just had their first date last night, and going in there now might seem a little too stalkerish. Then again, he did need to eat and since he was moving into the neighborhood, it was right there. After talking himself in circles for the entire drive, he finally decided that he might as well. He didn’t have to bother Gabriel while he was working, but going in and placing an order wouldn’t be out of place and if Gabriel happened to be there and talk to him he could just mention that he was moving into his new apartment and needed something to eat. Nothing strange about that. Besides, he had promised Dean a pie for helping him get his furniture moved in later. The guys at the flea market had helped him load it up, but Dean would be coming by in an hour to help unload.


	4. Chapter 4

Despite his reasoning, Sam was more than a little nervous when he stepped into the bakery, though he was trying not to show it. Gabriel was refilling some cases behind the counter, and the grin that lit up his face when he saw Sam did wonders for banishing most of his nerves. Sam went up to the counter with much more confidence than he’d had when he walked in the door, and Gabriel said, “Heya Sammy. What brings you here?” 

“I’m moving into my new apartment today and I promised my brother a pie in return for helping me move in my furniture,” Sam told him. 

“Okay, sure. What kind you need?” 

“Apple if you have any handy.”

“Sure thing,” Gabriel said disappearing into the back for a moment before returning with a boxed up apple pie. “Anything else?”

“Well I’m kinda hungry too, but I’m not sure what I want,” Sam said with a bit of a shrug. 

“That’s okay. I’ve got the perfect thing. Wait here,” Gabriel told him. They had talked quite a bit about food the night before and Sam’s, some might say, strange preferences, so Gabriel had a good idea what he might like. He came back with a bread shaped package and put it in a bag with the pie. 

“What is it?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Trust me, Sammykins. Let me know what you think,” Gabriel said cryptically, ringing him up. “Where’s your new apartment?” he inquired as he did so. 

“Right around the corner actually. The building next to yours. Apartment 803,” Sam told him, having no intention of telling him when he picked the apartment. He knew that wasn’t why he picked it, but Gabriel wouldn’t. 

“Nice. So, we’ll be neighbors huh?” Gabriel said cheerfully as Sam paid. 

“Yup. Seems like it,” Sam said with a grin that only widened when Gabriel’s hand lingered on his, giving it a squeeze when he handed over his change. 

Sam walked back to the apartment and headed upstairs to drop the food off. He figured he would go ahead and get the smaller stuff unloaded while he waited for Dean and then they would eat before tackling the big stuff. 

When Dean got there they headed up to eat and Dean pulled out the pie excitedly. “Dude, I am so glad you got a place near Heavenly Delights.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard you rave about their pie often enough, I figured I’d get you one from there since it’s right around the corner,” Sam said, not intending to tell Dean about him dating the owner just yet. He would tell him eventually. If things worked out. Just not yet. Sam pulled out his own package and only eyed it suspiciously for a moment before he pulled it out to see some sort of half loaf of bread with a red drizzled sauce on top. He grabbed a fork and dug in, eyes widening after the first bite. It was amazing. Not too sweet, but just enough to cut the tart. It was the best thing he’d ever tasted in his life. 

It only took the two of them an hour to get everything moved in and set up, and then Sam told him he needed to do a little more shopping, so rather than go along, Dean decided to head home. Especially when Sam told him he needed a computer. He knew his brother’s tendency to geek out over computers and take forever comparing them before deciding what to get. By the time Sam got back the sun was just starting to set and he was too tired to do anything but order a pizza and veg on the couch for the rest of the night. 

It wasn’t long after he sat down and put on a movie that he heard a knock at the door, and got up rather confused about who would be coming by. He opened it to find a rather nervous looking Gabriel holding a box. “Heya Sammy. I know you’re probably busy and all, but I just figured I’d bring you a little housewarming present,” Gabriel told him, holding out the cake box. 

Much like Gabriel had when Sam had come into the bakery, Sam’s face lit with a grin, as he stepped aside opening the door further. “Come on in,” he offered. “That bread you gave me earlier was amazing. What was it?” 

“It was pumpkin bread with a strawberry drizzle on top. I thought you would like it,” Gabriel said with a more relaxed smile, now that he knew that he wasn’t unwelcome. 

“And what’s this?” Sam asked opening the box even as he asked. 

“It’s an almond cake with roasted strawberries and rhubarb on top. I figured you would like it,” Gabriel said with a shrug.

“Well I’m waiting on a pizza right now, but I’ll try it after. You want to join me?” Sam asked. 

“You sure you’re up for company?” Gabriel asked, wanting very much to say yes, but also making it clear that he wasn’t fishing. 

“Yeah. I’m sure. I was just gonna veg out in front of the tv for a while. I ordered enough pizza for a few days, so there will be plenty for two. As long as you like meat lovers,” Sam told him. 

“Meat lovers is good,” Gabriel said, indicating his intention to stay. 

“Great. I just put on Iron Man, but we can switch to something else if you’d rather.”

“Nah. I love Iron Man,” Gabriel said plopping onto the couch. 

“Great,” Sam said stepping over to the fridge. “Beer or soda?” 

“Either one works,” Gabriel told him so Sam grabbed him a beer since that’s what he was drinking and sat down next to him restarting the movie that was only five minutes in. 

Neither of them had much idea what to do with themselves in this situation. It wasn’t exactly a date like last night had been, and neither knew what the other was looking for from it, but it didn’t take them long to settle into a comfortable banter regardless. There was no need to push anything here. It was about thirty more minutes before the pizza arrived and Sam paused the movie to grab it. “You need another beer or you good?” Sam asked after he set the pizza on the coffee table, already walking back to the kitchen for his own beer. 

“I could use one,” Gabriel said seeing as his was almost empty and Sam returned with two beers and restarted the movie as they ate. 

Once they were both full they sat back and Sam looked over at Gabriel. “You’ve got a little…sauce…here,” he said as he reached over and wiped it from the corner of Gabriel’s mouth, suddenly entranced by his lips before he closed the distance between them and kissed him softly. This time, Gabriel deepened the kiss, and Sam sank blissfully into it. By the time the movie was over, they were both rather disheveled and things were rapidly reaching too far territory. Well, too far for less than twenty-four hours after their first date, at least. 

Gabriel was the first to pull away. “I should go,” he said in a tone that clearly said that he didn’t want to go, but was going to anyway. 

“Yeah. Okay,” Sam said breathlessly. “You’re probably right. Goodnight, Gabriel,” he said pulling Gabriel in for one more deep kiss. 

“Goodnight, Sam,” Gabriel said, hand lingering on Sam’s cheek unable to stop himself from leaning in for one last quick chaste kiss as he got up. “Call me?” he asked hopefully. 

“Absolutely,” Sam said, with a grin. Like anything would stop him now. Gabriel returned the grin as he closed the door behind him, leaning against the wall and taking a deep breath. God, it had been so hard to leave, and even now he was fighting with himself about going back in there, but he knew it was a bad idea. This had the potential to be so much more than a fling, and he would be damned if he was gonna turn it into one just because he was horny as hell. 

Sam was sitting back on the couch with the same thoughts. Part of him wanted nothing more than to just take Gabriel to bed, to hell with everything else, but he wanted more than that. Oh, but he had been so close to breaking. It was good that Gabriel left, despite how badly that part of him wished that he hadn’t. He knew that he was in for a rather long shower tonight, and the traitorous part of his brain wondered if Gabriel was too, and that was enough to send him there now. He could use an early night after his busy day anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam decided as he went to bed that he wasn’t going to call Gabriel the next day. It was traditional to wait three days after the date before calling, after all. He did decide not to count that day, and count it from their actual date, so he would only have to wait one day. He needed to prove to himself that he could. The fact that Gabriel seemed just as hooked, if coming by that night was any indication didn’t matter, or maybe it made it more important. They both needed a breath before jumping in with both feet. He wouldn’t even go by the bakery. 

Of course, not going by the bakery was an easy decision seeing as the stupid cable company couldn’t give any kind of decent time frame for his appointment. All they said was between eight and twelve or between one and five. Not either or. Both. So basically, he would be stuck at home all day long until they came, and knowing his luck they wouldn’t come until the end of the day. Unless he left of course, then they would come the moment he left. 

Sam took the opportunity to get his computer hooked up before settling in with one of his lawbooks. If he was going to be starting his job in less than a week he needed to make sure to keep his mind sharp. He finished his strawberry pumpkin bread for breakfast, unable to keep from thinking about Gabriel with a smile as he did, and it was the same with his leftover pizza for lunch. It was four o’clock before the cable guys showed up, true to Sam’s prediction and he showed them where he wanted everything. 

Once they were gone, it was about the time for Gabriel to be closing up the bakery, and Sam’s hands kept twitching towards his phone, but he kept himself under control, even going so far as to throw his phone in a random drawer in the kitchen so it would be out of sight, out of mind. He picked up his biggest, most difficult lawbook and buried himself in it until he could barely keep his eyes open anymore. 

Gabriel closed up the bakery, with a bit of disappointment. He knew that he shouldn’t, but he had hoped to see Sam today since he lived right around the corner. It wasn’t until a few hours later, checking his phone every five minutes that he really started to worry. Going over there last night had been too much. He should’ve just waited for Sam to call. Sam coming into the bakery was a legitimate reason. He needed a pie and he’d already mentioned how much his brother loved the pies, so it must not have meant what Gabriel thought it meant. Or more like hoped it meant. 

Gabriel fell asleep that night with a heavy heart, but by the time he woke up the next morning to go open the bakery, he had forced it from his mind and forced a smile onto his face for the benefit of the masses. All of his employees noticed that he wasn’t his usual chipper self, but he brushed them all off when they asked what was wrong. His mask was good enough to fool the customers at least and that was what mattered. 

Sam tried to resist going to the bakery again that day, intending to call Gabriel after closing, but by mid-afternoon, he couldn’t resist anymore. He walked around the corner and walked in only for his face to fall at the fact that Gabriel was nowhere in sight. He went up to the counter and ordered some apple muffins and another loaf of the strawberry pumpkin bread, pausing to look around for a moment before he left sadly. He didn’t have the nerve to actually ask for Gabriel or he would have learned that Gabriel generally spent the afternoon lull in the back working on new recipes. 

Sam managed to wait about ten minutes after closing before he couldn’t stand it anymore and grabbed his phone, quickly dialing Gabriel’s number. Gabriel answered pretty quickly and Sam heard a, “Hello? *crash* Shit. Ow.” And Sam winced. 

“Sorry. I caught you at a bad time. I can call back later,” he said apologetically. 

“Sam?” Gabriel guessed. “No, it’s okay. Just…crap…can I call you back in like fifteen minutes?”

“Yeah. That’s fine. Sorry,” Sam said, glad that Gabriel couldn’t see his blush. He knew he should have given him a little more time to close up. Sam heard another bang as the line went dead and he set the phone on the table in front of him as he waited for Gabriel to call back with bated breath. 

Gabriel finished his cleaning and locking up with a grin. Sam had called. He hadn’t blown it after all. No sooner than he was turning the key in the front door, he had his phone out of his pocket, dialing the most recent number on the caller id. “Hello?” Sam answered on the first ring. 

“Hey Sammy. Sorry about that. Was just getting the last of the stuff put up for the night,” Gabriel explained. 

“No, it’s okay. I should have given you a little more time to close up before I called,” Sam replied. “Are you okay?” he asked remembering the ‘ow’ he had heard. 

“Yeah, s’all good. Just pinched my finger in the over door is all,” Gabriel told him. 

Sam could hear the wind coming across the line and figured Gabriel was walking home and he couldn’t resist going to the window and looking out to see if he could catch a glimpse of Gabriel coming around the corner and there he was. Sam smiled and realized how badly he wanted to see him at that moment. “So what are you doing tonight?” he asked nonchalantly. 

“Wasn’t planning on much. Just grabbing some dinner and curling up in front of the tv for a couple hours. You?” 

“Well I was gonna head out and eat myself, if you feel like joining me?” Sam suggested, despite the fact that he hadn’t been planning on that until this very moment. 

“Yeah, sure. Gimme ten minutes to go change clothes and I’ll meet you outside?” Gabriel said doing a little happy spin as he reached the front door of his building having no idea that Sam was watching. 

Sam suppressed his chuckle at the action, but let his own grin shine through as he said, “Okay great. I’ll see you in ten.” He then rushed to his room to change himself, not about to go out in his ratty Stanford t-shirt and sweatpants. 

Ten minutes later they both met on the street wearing nice jeans and t-shirts. Seemed they both wanted to keep things casual tonight. Gabriel walked over to him and took his hand as he asked, “So what’d you have in mind?” 

“I was thinking O’Malleys?” Sam suggested the sports bar two blocks away. 

“Sounds good to be,” Gabriel said as they started walking that way. “So, I haven’t seen you in the bakery in a few days. Is my cooking that bad?” Gabriel joked. 

“Hardly,” Sam snorted. “Yesterday I was stuck in the apartment all day waiting on the cable guys who decided not to show up until the very end of the day. I did come by this afternoon, but you weren’t there.”

“Oh. It must have been when I was in the back experimenting. I usually do that in the afternoons when it gets slow. You could have asked for me,” Gabriel told him. 

“I wasn’t sure if I should,” Sam said with a bit of a blush. 

Gabriel suddenly realized why Sam hadn’t called the day before and he kicked himself for his insecurities. “Okay a little heads up about me. I don’t give a crap about convention or should or shouldn’t. If it’s something you want, then you should go for it. If you want to see me, come see me, or call me or whatever.”

“I don’t want to smother you or anything,” Sam told him, knowing that he had a tendency to do that when he let himself. He’d gotten more than enough complaints in the past about that very thing. 

“If it gets too much, I’ll let you know. I can hardly hold it against you when I’m telling you to though can I?” Gabriel said with a squeeze of his hand as they headed into the pub. 

“Yeah, okay. That makes sense,” Sam said. He wouldn’t let himself go completely. Not yet at least. But he could work up to it and see where Gabriel decided to draw the line. 

“Good,” Gabriel said as they slid into a booth and pulled out the menus, lapsing into a comfortable silence as they perused. 

When the waiter came by a few minutes later, they had both decided what they wanted. “I’ll have the monster burger, extra cheese, extra bacon, and skip all the rabbit food, with the chili cheese fries on the side.”

Sam chuckled before giving his own order. “I’ll also have the monster burger, and I’ll take all his extra ‘rabbit food’ and just regular fries.” Once they were alone again, Sam couldn’t help but comment amusedly, “That’s a lot of food for such a little guy.”

Gabriel forced a laugh, pointedly ignoring the part of him that flashed back to their first date where Sam called him ‘soft around the middle’, and he shrugged. “I like to eat. Besides I’m not little everywhere,” he added with a waggle of his eyebrows. 

Sam laughed at that too, and sent his own rejoinder, “I look forward to finding out for myself one day.” The fact that it wouldn’t be today, was understood by both of them and Gabriel couldn’t help but preen internally despite the insecurity that welled up in him. Gabriel refused to let it put him off his food though. Sam could accept him as is or not at all. He was a little too old be playing those kinds of games. 

Sam was, once again, oblivious to the insecurity he’d caused, but he could be forgiven because Gabriel was just that good of an actor. The few signs that showed were very subtle, and had Sam known him better he might have picked up on them, but he didn’t know him well enough to do so yet. Despite Sam’s doubts, Gabriel managed to eat just about everything he’d ordered. There were a few of the chili cheese fries left, but otherwise he’d cleaned his plate, as had Sam. 

Sam knew that Gabriel had an early morning so didn’t intend to keep him out late. This was just a spur of the moment thing after all, so after the meal, they headed back to their apartments. “I’ll walk you up?” Sam offered when they got to Gabriel’s building. He really wanted to kiss him goodnight properly and wasn’t really comfortable doing so out here in the street. 

“Sure,” Gabriel said, same thoughts on his mind. At Gabriel’s apartment door, Gabriel wasted no time pulling Sam in for a searing kiss, and soon found himself pressed back against the door, Sam’s arms wrapped tightly around his back as he kissed him back enthusiastically. They didn’t part until they needed air, and it was all Sam could do not to plunge back in once he had some, but he restrained himself. 

“Goodnight, Gabriel,” he whispered breathlessly, limiting himself to a short chaste kiss. 

“Goodnight, Sam,” Gabriel returned just as softly before he turned to enter his apartment as Sam walked away.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, keeping in mind what Gabriel had said, Sam walked over to the bakery when he got up. When he didn’t see Gabriel out front, he swallowed his nerves and asked the guy at the counter for him. He disappeared into the back and Gabriel came out a moment later, drying his hands and Sam couldn’t help but grin at the spot of flour on cheek. “Morning, Sammykins,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “You come by to say hi or grab some grub?”

“Both actually,” Sam told him. 

“You know what you want and then I’ll take a break and sit with you for a bit?” Gabriel offered. 

“I was thinking I might try some of the lemon raspberry muffins and a large coffee.”

“Coming right up. Go ahead and have a seat. I’ll bring it over,” Gabriel told him and joined him a moment later with three of the muffins and a large coffee for Sam and a slice of chocolate cake and some hot chocolate for himself. 

“Fan of chocolate are you?” Sam laughed. 

“Hey, I freely admit to being a chocoholic,” Gabriel said with his own grin, once again hiding his insecurity as Sam mentioned his eating habits. He forced himself to realize that nothing Sam had said would be considered offensive nor was it out of place or nit-picky like his mind was trying to convince him. Anyone sitting down with that much chocolate would get a comment like that. “So, what are your plans for the day?” Gabriel asked, making conversation. 

“Well, I need to do a little more shopping for the apartment. The little things you don’t think about until you end up needing them, you know. Then I’m just gonna spent the rest of the day wrapped up my law books to prepare for starting my new job Monday.”

“You nervous about starting your first real job?” Gabriel asked.

“I don’t know. A little,” Sam admitted rather sheepishly. 

“I can imagine. I was scared shitless the first day I opened this place, and I didn’t even have to depend on it to make a living. It’s always nerve-wracking to start a new phase of your life,” Gabriel assured him, seeing that Sam was embarrassed about being nervous. 

“Yeah, I guess. I hadn’t really thought of it like that,” Sam told him gratefully. He hesitated for a second before asking, “Would it be inappropriate to hold your hand here?” Gabriel grinned and reached over and took Sam’s hand in answer of his question, and Sam threaded their fingers together as the conversation picked back up. “How long have you had this place?” Sam asked curiously.

“A little over fifteen years,” Gabriel told him. 

“Well I love it. It’s got a nice homey feel to it,” Sam told him. 

“That’s exactly what I was going for,” Gabriel said with a smile. About that time one of the employees came and told him that the top layer of the cake was almost ready, so Gabriel turned to Sam. “Well, duty calls. Wedding cakes don’t decorate themselves,” he said cheerfully as he got up and pressed a short chaste kiss to Sam’s lips. “I’ll call you later?” 

“I look forward to it,” Sam said giving Gabriel’s hand another squeeze before he popped his last piece of muffin in his mouth and grabbed his coffee, letting the kid up front ring him up before he left. 

It was mid-afternoon when Sam’s phone rang, and he looked at the caller id to see Gabriel’s name and he grinned as he answered. “Hey Gabe.”

“Heya Samsquatch. I forgot to ask you this morning, you got plans for Friday night?” 

“Nope. Friday’s free. What did you have in mind?” Sam asked. 

“I was thinking dinner and a movie,” Gabriel suggested. “My turn to treat.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Sam said happily. 

“Great. I’ll pick you up at five?” 

“Don’t you have to close up?” Sam asked confused.

“Nah. Fridays I have someone else close up for me. And open on Saturdays,” Gabriel told him, letting him know that it didn’t have to be an early night this time. 

“Five is perfect then.” 

“Good. So, how’d your shopping go?” Gabriel asked conversationally, and Sam figured he had a break if he was looking for idle chit-chat. 

“Pretty good. Ran into an old friend from high school at the store,” Sam told him. Part of it was a test to see how Gabriel would react, but it was actually true so it worked. 

“That’s always fun. Was it a good meeting at least?” he asked, knowing how badly those things could go from experience. 

“Good enough. He seemed a little jealous about the fact that I’m so successful and all and he’s stuck working retail, but not much I can do about that,” Sam told him. 

“Yeah, not like it’s your fault,” Gabriel sympathized. 

“At least he wasn’t a jerk about it though. Just seemed a little on the bitter side. I invited him out with my friends and I for our standing Saturday night out, so maybe he’ll chill out,” Sam told him. 

“I’ll cross my fingers for you,” Gabriel told him. “Just don’t go breaking into any more apartments this weekend. I don’t need the competition,” he joked. 

Sam couldn’t help the long laugh that pulled from him at that. Like anyone else could possibly be as cool about having their apartment broken into as Gabriel was anyway. Besides, he’d learned his lesson on that one. As great as it turned out, he still considered himself damn lucky not to be in jail. “I promise,” he said as solemnly as he could manage through his giggles. “So, how’d the wedding cake go?” Sam asked once he was somewhat calm again. 

“Still working on it. They want it pretty extravagant, so I probably won’t get it finished today. It doesn’t have to be ready until noon tomorrow though, so I have time,” Gabriel told him. 

“Wow, I never realized it could take so long to decorate a cake,” Sam said amazed. 

“It doesn’t usually,” Gabriel admitted. “Some of the simpler designs don’t take more than a couple hours. This one is just going all out. I love doing wedding cakes though. That’s where the good money is.”

“I can imagine if that much work goes into it,” Sam told him. 

“At least it’s fun,” Gabriel said cheerfully. 

“There is that,” Sam said amusedly. He didn’t see what was so fun about it himself, but Gabriel must if he was running a bakery. “You don’t have anyone helping you with it?” 

“Not the decorating part. I’ll let them whip up the frosting and bake the cakes, but I’m a bit of a control freak with the decorating,” Gabriel joked. 

Sam ignored the worry that started to rise at that statement, and instead took another track. “I can’t see you as a control freak,” he said with the same joking tone that Gabriel used. He always thought of someone like Gordon when he thought of control freaks, and Gabriel was about as different from that as night and day. At least so far. He didn’t really know him well enough to say for sure, but the way he had reacted to Sam having a night out with his friends boded well. 

“I’m not usually. Just when it comes to decorating cakes and pastries,” Gabriel told him. “I get this vision in my head and since I’m the only one who can see it, no one else could do it just the way I want it.”

“That makes sense,” Sam said relaxing and chiding himself for his brief moment of concern. Of course Gabe wasn’t like Gordon. Some wounds just took a while to heal. “So, what’s the dress code for tomorrow night?” Sam asked, changing the subject. 

“Like our first date,” Gabriel told him, fully intending to take Sam out to a very nice dinner before the movie. 

“Okay. Sounds good,” Sam said already wondering where they would be going. 

“Well, I should probably get back to work,” Gabriel told him. “I’ve taken a long enough break.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to you later,” Sam told him, fully intending to call Gabriel after he got home, though he would resist the urge to invite him to dinner this time. 

Once closing time came around for the bakery, Sam couldn’t keep his eyes from straying to the window, watching for Gabriel to get home. He thought maybe calling him again tonight might be a little much, but he wanted to talk to him and Gabriel had said not to get hung up on stuff like that, so he would take the chance. He smiled when he saw Gabriel round the corner and waited another fifteen minutes so he wouldn’t seem like a creepy stalker by knowing exactly what time he got home before he picked up his phone. 

They ended up talking for over an hour this time, and for the first time, their conversation started to touch on the land mine of family. They had talked a lot about lighter subjects, but both had mostly avoided the family conversations. They didn’t get too deep into it, but they learned a little bit about each other. Like the fact that Sam’s father was borderline abusive and very neglectful, causing Dean to be both a father and a brother to Sam after their mother died in a house fire when he was baby. Gabriel had three older brothers and an absent father. Two of his brothers were okay, but one was just an asshole. They didn’t get any further than that, but Sam somehow felt a lot closer to Gabriel just with that little bit of opening up.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Sam made his way over to the bakery for his breakfast and coffee, and as expected, he didn’t see Gabriel up front. He figured that Gabriel was still working on the wedding cake, but he did hope to say hi at least. “Is Gabriel busy?” he asked at the counter. 

Once again, the guy disappeared into the back only for Gabriel to come out drying his hands again a moment later beaming at him. “I was hoping you’d come by again, so I waited to take my break until you got here. Whatcha want this morning?” 

“Just some banana bread with my coffee,” Sam told him. 

“Coming right up,” Gabriel said joining Sam at the same table from yesterday a few moments later. 

Sam couldn’t help but chuckle as Gabriel sat down and reached across the table. “You’ve got a bit of frosting…here,” he said wiping it off Gabriel’s nose. 

When he went to wipe it on a napkin, Gabriel grabbed his hand, and popped Sam’s thumb in his mouth, licking the frosting off. He kept it mostly PG given the location, but couldn’t stop a wink at Sam as he said, “A lot of work went into that frosting. Don’t go wasting it.”

Sam blushed a bit, but was grinning at Gabriel’s antics even though his pants felt slightly tighter than they had a moment ago. “I’ll keep that in mind,” Sam said with a chuckle, secretly hoping to find more frosting on Gabriel in the future. “You’ll take some pictures when the cake is done?” Sam asked, more than a little curious about the cake that would take two days to decorate. 

“I usually do for the flyers. I’ll show you tonight,” Gabriel promised, glad that Sam was taking an interest in his work. This time, since he’d planned for the visit, it wasn’t cut short, and Sam got to finish his breakfast at a leisurely pace while they chatted. Sam didn’t loiter too long though, knowing that Gabriel still had some work to do. They shared another chaste kiss before Sam left and went out for his morning run and decided to swing by the gym. If he kept eating Gabriel’s food all the time, even the healthy options, he was going to end up as big as a house if he wasn’t careful. 

Sam was ready and waiting for Gabriel when five o’clock rolled around and just on time there was a knock on the door and they were headed out. Sam got his first glimpse of Gabriel’s car, a red Ferrari Scuderia, and his eyes went wide. Gabriel had said that he had family money, but this was a hot car even to him, and he wasn’t nearly as into cars as his brother was. “Nice,” Sam said with an appreciative whistle. 

Gabriel looked a little embarrassed at the extravagance of it, which was only part of the reason he rarely drove anywhere, but it was what he had. “It was a birthday present from my dad. He thinks material things make up for fatherly affection, so he tends to go a little overboard.”

Sam wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he just reached over and squeezed Gabriel’s hand sympathetically. Gabriel smiled at him before motioning him to get in and they headed out. Once they were seated in the restaurant, Sam looked over the menu nervously before whispering across the table. “I don’t know anything about French food and I can’t read the menu,” he admitted. 

Gabriel hadn’t thought of that. He should have, and he was kicking himself for his oversight. “Will you trust me to order you something you’ll like then?” he asked. 

Sam considered that for a moment. Gabriel was two for two so far on his recommendations with the strawberry pumpkin bread and the amazing almond cake, so the only thing hanging him up was the idea of Gabriel ordering for him. He had asked though, rather than just take control and assume, so Sam just nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

When the waitress came around, Gabriel ordered himself fondue savoyarde with a glass of Chardonnay to drink, and ordered Sam confit de canard with a red Bordeaux. Gabriel hoped that his recommendation went over as well as his confectionary recommendations seemed to, and sure enough, once the food arrived, Sam fell in love with it. “This is amazing,” Sam told him. 

Gabriel let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I’m glad you like it. I’m sorry I didn’t consider the whole language barrier thing.”

“No, it’s okay. As long as you don’t think less of me for being a little lost,” Sam said with a chuckle. 

“Not in the slightest,” Gabriel assured him, and the rest of the meal went rather smoothly. The dessert menu came with pictures, so after a few questions about things that the pictures weren’t clear on, Sam ordered his own dessert and then they were back in the car on the way to the movie theatre. They were going to see The Hangover. It turned out Sam preferred sitting in the back where he could see the whole screen at once rather than up front where it was harder to take in the whole thing. Gabriel kinda preferred up front, but he wasn’t overly picky about it, so he didn’t mind sitting at the back too much. 

Given the fact that they weren’t actually teenagers, they didn’t spent the whole movie making out, though there were quite a few kisses stolen over the course of the two hours, some of them even getting rather heated, but mostly they actually did watch the movie. Sam’s arm did stay firmly around Gabriel for the duration, Gabriel’s head resting on Sam’s shoulder as they munched on popcorn and whispered quiet comments about the movie. 

The sun was just starting to go down as they left the theatre, so Gabriel suggested a walk, taking Sam to a nearby park where they sat by the lake and watched the sunset in companionable silence as Sam leaned back on his arms, one of which was behind Gabriel who was leaning against Sam’s side. “It’s nice out here,” Sam said softly after a little while. 

“Yeah. It’s a beautiful night,” Gabriel agreed tilting his head up to press a soft kiss to Sam’s neck only for Sam to turn and give him a proper kiss right after. It stayed short and relatively chaste, both very much aware of the fact that they were out in the open rather than the back of a dark theatre, so some sense of decorum was necessary. “Oh, you wanted to see pictures of the cake?” Gabriel suggested and when Sam nodded, he pulled out his phone. 

Sam leaned over his shoulder looking at the pictures in awe. “That’s amazing!” The cake had been done up in various shades of cream and pastels so that each layer told a story in silhouette. The bottom layer showed a cheerleader at a football game with a football player in front of her and the scene was repeated with small changes on each side. The second layer was the same but with two people running through a field. The third layer was riding horses around a lake. The fourth was watching the sunset at a beach. The top layer was just done in various flowers and swirls with the topper of the bride and groom dancing under a gazebo. “Wow. That’s just…wow.”

Gabriel chuckled, blushing a bit at Sam’s speechless praise. “Now you see why it took two days,” he joked. 

On the way home, Sam brought up a next date, seeing as tonight was just about as perfect as it got. “So I was thinking, if you’re not busy, maybe we could have lunch on Sunday and then do something fun?” 

“What did you have in mind?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“I was thinking the water park?” Sam suggested. 

Gabriel’s hands tightened just a fraction over the steering wheel at the idea of Sam seeing him in swimming clothes, but he still couldn’t bring himself to say no. “Yeah okay. That sounds like fun,” Gabriel said nonchalantly. He knew that if this was going to go anywhere, Sam would be seeing his body eventually, but he had rather hoped that the first time would be in the throes of passion when Sam was too distracted to pay much attention. He even briefly entertained the thought of going there tonight before he disregarded it. They hadn’t even known each other for a week yet, regardless of how much time they had spent together in that time. It was too soon. He wanted their first time to mean something, as sappy as it may seem. 

Gabriel walked him up to his apartment, and there was another lingering goodnight at the door, as Sam pulled Gabriel in for a deep kiss. When they broke for air, Gabriel’s lips trailed over Sam’s jaw to his neck and he didn’t even realize how far this was going until he felt Sam’s hand glide down to his ass pulling him tight enough for their erections to rub together and Gabriel quickly pulled himself under control. “I should go,” he said breathlessly taking half a step back. 

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Sam breathed out. He hadn’t intended for things to go so far either. He too wanted their first time to be more than just getting off because they were horny, so he leaned down for one more short kiss. “Goodnight Gabriel,” he whispered. 

“Goodnight, Sam,” Gabriel whispered back before turning and walking, a little stiffly, back to the elevators before he lost the will to leave. They were both in for long showers tonight.


	8. Chapter 8

Sam didn’t bother going by the bakery the next morning, since Gabriel had mentioned that he didn’t usually go in until the afternoons on Saturdays when he went in at all. He wasn’t going to call Gabriel either, not knowing how late he generally slept on the weekends, so he still hadn’t talked to him by the time he met up with his friends at two o’clock that afternoon. Gabriel, for his part, was giving Sam his space today to hang out with his friends. He didn’t want to risk taking over Sam’s life completely. They could survive one day without contact. 

Sam finally admitted to his friends about the new guy he was seeing. He didn’t give specifics about Gabriel, not wanting anyone to track him down and give him a hard time this early in their budding relationship, but he did have the story of how they met coaxed out of him and everyone thought it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever heard. Walt even went so far as to tell Sam he should be thanking him for giving him that dare in the first place. Jo was a little more dubious though. “So, you’re saying he blackmailed you into going out with him?” 

Sam stopped laughing at that. “No. Not at all. There was never any mention of ‘if you don’t go out with me I’ll report you’ or anything like that. I owed him for the lock and dishes I broke, and he offered dinner to pay for it. If I’d said no, he would have just asked for the money and left it at that. Plus, he made it very clear that all he was asking for was dinner and conversation. Anything beyond that was up to me, and he kept the promise. I’m the one who made every advance that night. I’m the one who asked for his number at the end of the night,” Sam said defensively. 

“Still. I don’t like it,” she told him. 

“Well then it’s a good thing you’re not seeing him. You don’t have to like it,” Sam said shortly. 

“Come on, Sam. Forget blondie. Tell us everything,” Roy said plopping another beer in front of Sam. 

“Oh no. You’ve gotten all the details you’re going to get for now,” Sam said laughing at their eagerness. He knew his friends. They were good guys, but they had all the tact of a bull in a china shop. If they figured out who Gabriel was too soon he’d never get a moment’s peace. 

It was around midnight by the time he was plastered and took a rare moment when he was alone while Jo was in the bathroom, Garth was failing at darts, and Walt and Roy were at the bar getting more drinks, to pull out his phone and call Gabriel, getting a sleepy sounding, “Hello” on the other end. 

“Oh crap. It’s late. I’m sorry I woke you up,” Sam slurred.

“No, it’s okay, Sam. What’s up?” Gabriel asked only slightly worried. 

“I just missed you. Haven’t talked to you today,” Sam only admitted because he was too drunk to care at the moment. 

Despite his slight annoyance at being woken up, Gabriel couldn’t help but smile at that. “I missed you too, Sammy,” he said happily. 

About that time Gabriel heard another voice say, “Who’s that? You talking to your boyfriend?” in a teasing manner followed by a bit of a scuffle before someone else was on the phone. “Hey you better take good care of our Sammy,” the voice said but before Gabriel could reply, he heard Sam say, “Give me back my phone,” a crash and then Sam was back on the line and Gabriel was holding back his laughter. 

“Sounds like you guys are having fun,” he said amusedly. 

“Uh-huh. Sorry I woke you up,” Sam told him. 

“Did you tell him Jo-Jo doesn’t like him?” Gabriel heard the voice call laughingly. 

“No, I didn’t,” Sam said annoyed. 

“Who’s Jo-jo and why doesn’t he like me?” Gabriel couldn’t help but ask losing his battle with his own laughter and letting out a bit of a chuckle. 

“Jo-jo’s a she and she thinks you’re creepy. Garth thinks she just likes me but that’s stupid.” Sam would never have said as much if he wasn’t three sheets into the wind, but Gabriel just laughed. “I’ll let you go back to sleep now,” Sam told him. 

“Okay Sammy. Just…if you need a ride home later, please call me?” Gabriel asked. 

“It’s not far,” Sam told him. “I can walk.”

“I know. Just keep it in mind. Just in case,” Gabriel told him. There was no guarantee Sam would be able to walk at this rate, though he sounded a little less smashed than he had when he broke in a week ago, and he’d made it here then. 

“Kay. Bye Gabe,” Sam slurred before he hung up. Gabriel just shook his head and tried to go back to sleep, but found sleep elusive so he gave up an hour later and found himself sitting by the window watching for Sam to come home. He just wanted to make sure he made it okay. He smiled when he saw Sam staggering down the street a little while later, supported on one side by a tall skinny guy that looked only a little tipsy. At least one of his friends had the presence of mind to make sure he made it home. Once they disappeared in the door of Sam’s building Gabriel went back to bed and was out like a light. 

Thankfully, Sam had set his alarm for ten AM on Sunday before he went out, because he would never have remembered when he got home at almost two am and passed out fully clothed on his bed. Sam groaned loudly when his alarm went off, and creaked his eyes open, wondering absentmindedly who put the glass of water and asprin on his bedside table before remembering Garth helping him home last night. He was always doing considerate stuff like that. He would have to remember to thank him later. 

Sam downed the entire glass of water, and then another one, knowing that hydrating was the best cure for a hangover, before he went and jumped in the shower. He stood under the spray for a long time, just letting it wash over him, loving the feel of a hot shower after a night of drinking. That was usually when he started piecing together the events of the previous night and he paled when he remembered the phone call. Oh, God. Gabriel would probably hate him now. Or maybe not hate him. He hadn’t seemed mad about being woken up, but Sam fully expected to get the third degree as soon as they met up later. He began to hope that he had dreamed that phone call. 

By the time he got out of the shower, he only had about half an hour before he was supposed to meet Gabriel at the deli so he dried off and got dressed quickly, feeling mostly human now, but still with a bit of a headache, as he headed out the door. He beat Gabriel by about five minutes and was already sitting, resting his head in his hands when Gabriel plopped down across from him with a cheerful, “Morning Samshine.” 

Sam just groaned and looked up. “Please tell me I dreamed that phone call,” he said hopelessly. 

“No can do, Sam-a-lam,” he said amusedly. 

“Okay. Let me have it,” Sam said defeated. 

“Let you have what? You think I’m mad about being woken up?” Gabriel asked. Sure, he wasn’t thrilled about it, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

“I’m sure you have questions,” Sam said, not buying the innocent act. 

Gabriel blinked at him a moment, absentmindedly wondering what kind of past experiences he could have that would make him expect to get reamed out over the contents of that call. “I admit to being curious, sure, but you don’t owe me any explanations, Sam,” he said seriously. Unless Sam went and slept with someone last night it was none of his business and even that would only be borderline his business given that they weren’t anything official. 

Sam looked up at him confused for a moment. He really wasn’t going to get the third degree? He couldn’t see any hostility in Gabriel’s demeanor though, so it seemed he really was okay with it. In that case, “Okay, well I’m still a little fuzzy on the whole thing, so how about you just tell me what you’re curious about and we’ll see if I can’t clear it up for you.” If Gabriel was being so cool about it, the least Sam could do is assuage his curiosity. 

Gabriel didn’t mention the whole missing him part. That was clear enough. There was really only one part that he was curious about. “So apparently this Jo-jo person doesn’t like me, thinks I’m creepy, and may or may not have a thing for you?” he asked amusedly. 

Sam looked very carefully for any sign of him being upset about that, but found nothing, so he felt free to answer the question far more honestly than he might have. “She just thinks it’s creepy the way we met, and accused you of blackmailing me into going out with you, despite my insistence otherwise. As far as her having a thing for me, that’s Garth’s theory, but he’s always been a little weird. Jo is like a sister to Dean and me. We grew up together. I’ve known her since she was four and I was six, and she’s never shown any sign of seeing me as anything more than an annoying big brother.”

Gabriel just nodded. “That makes sense. I’m sure if she ever meets me she’ll see I’m not a bad guy. It’s probably just a territorial sister thing, and it is kinda weird how we met,” he said with a laugh. “As long as you know it wasn’t blackmail, I can live with that.”

Sam was caught very off-guard by this whole morning and Gabriel’s easy acceptance of all this, so felt the need to explain a little further. “I don’t usually drink like that, you know. I’ve just been away at school for a long time and last weekend was celebrating me graduating and this weekend was kinda like my ‘last hurrah before I become an upstanding member of society’ when I start my job or however Walt put it.”

“S’okay Sammy. Like I said, you don’t owe me any explanations,” Gabriel told him, though he was rather glad to hear that. He would like to know that sleeping through an entire Saturday night was at least a possibility.


	9. Chapter 9

By the end of lunch, Sam’s headache was gone too, and he was feeling great as he and Gabriel walked towards the water park hand in hand. They were both wearing swim clothes and had a towel draped over their shoulders. When they got there, they grabbed a free locker and Sam tossed his towel in before stripping off his shirt to throw in too, only to turn around and see that Gabriel was still wearing his shirt. “You’re swimming in your shirt?” Sam asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. 

Gabriel shifted a little uncomfortably before giving up the ghost. “I’m not exactly in my twenties anymore, Samsquatch,” he said trying to sound more amused than insecure. “Hell, I’m pushing forty, and as you’ve pointed out, I’m more than a little soft around the middle,” he added with a tight chuckle. 

Sam narrowed his eyes, looking at Gabriel searchingly. He was trying to play it off, but now that he was looking for it, he caught the tightness of the eyes and the slight discomfort that had creeped into his voice. “I didn’t say ‘more’ than a little, and it was just a joke. You know it was just a joke, right?” Sam said pleadingly as he pulled Gabriel to the side so they weren’t blocking the lockers. 

“It doesn’t matter, Sammy,” Gabriel tried to brush it off.

“Of course it matters, Gabe,” Sam said running one hand over Gabriel’s arm while the other brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. “You think I care about how old you are? Or any misconceived perceptions you might have about your body? I like you for YOU, Gabe, and I know I haven’t actually said it before, but I do think you’re gorgeous.” Gabriel couldn’t help but smile at Sam for that, but still wasn’t quite comfortable removing his shirt in front of someone that looked like a greek god. Sam saw that he was still hesitant, so he asked, “Have you ever been here before?” 

“Yeah. A few times,” Gabriel told him. 

“And have you kept your shirt on then?” Sam asked curiously. If he was truly uncomfortable in front of all these people, then Sam would drop it. When Gabriel shook his head, Sam was decided though. “Okay, off with the shirt then,” he said firmly. He would let Gabriel hide from other people if he wanted to, but not from him, and since he was obviously the only one Gabriel wanted to hide from, he felt the need to push the matter. “Please, Gabe,” Sam asked plaintively when he still seemed hesitant. 

Gabriel took a deep breath for nerves and slowly removed his shirt, shifting uncomfortably as Sam looked him up and down, before smiling. “Like I said. Gorgeous,” he said with a tone of finality as he pulled Gabriel in for a chaste kiss, keeping a respectable distance between them as one of his hands went to Gabriel’s side. 

Seemed that was the cue for someone to come along and try to ruin their day. “Have a little decency would you. There are children around for crying out loud,” a snide woman’s voice came from beside them. 

Sam started to step away, but Gabriel grabbed his wrist before he could go far turning towards the woman. “Yes, children that don’t need to be exposed to your obscene bigotry,” he snapped. “Why don’t you go police them,” he pointed at the teenage couple trying to swallow each other’s tonsils, “Or them,” he pointed at the young woman with her arms wrapped around her man’s waist as they made out. “But obviously there’s only one kind of relationship that bothers you, so do us a favor and go spread your hate somewhere else before we report you for harassment.”

She stormed off in a huff and Sam just stood there looking at Gabriel wide-eyed. He’d never seen Gabriel get his feather’s ruffled like that and he couldn’t deny that he liked it. A lot. He did feel the need to point out though, “You know any kind of report of harassment like that would just be thrown aside.” After all, she hadn’t really done anything more than make one comment and then walk off. 

“It doesn’t matter. People like her don’t want their bigotry aired for all to see. Just the threat is enough to shut them up most of the time,” Gabriel told him. 

“You sound like you have a lot of experience,” Sam said, fishing a bit. He’d been in California since he figured out he was into guys, and had never brought a guy home so hadn’t had to put up with much prejudice. 

“A little, yeah. Maybe over dinner we can do the whole previous relationship sob story dump,” Gabriel offered. It was about time, if they were going to keep this thing going, and Sam’s reactions since they got here, gave him much higher hopes than he’d had this morning when he was practically shaking with nerves over the idea of going shirtless today. 

Sam was thinking the same, except it was Gabriel’s reactions at the deli that rose his hopes. Sam had every intention of pitching the idea of becoming official tonight if all went well. “Yeah, okay. That sounds like a plan. For now, we have fun,” he said with a grin, pulling Gabriel in for another quick kiss before grabbing his shirt from his hand, walking over to the locker to toss it in, and then following Gabriel as the shorter man pulled him towards the water. 

They started easy with some of the lower waterslides that they went tandem down, Gabriel not noticing Sam’s slight case of the jitters as they climbed the ladders. It wasn’t until they were climbing the two story high zip-line that he noticed Sam’s hands shaking much worse than they had been before. “You good, Sammy?” he asked curiously, taking Sam’s hands in his own, as they waited for their turn at the top. 

“Yeah. I’m good. Just not a fan of heights,” Sam said nervously. These things were still fun enough that it was worth it, but he couldn’t help the nerves. When Gabriel burst out in gut-busting laughter though, Sam couldn’t help but feel a little hurt that Gabriel was making fun of his fears. “What? It’s a perfectly reasonable phobia,” Sam said defensively. 

“No…sorry…it’s not that,” Gabriel tried to get his laughter under control. “It’s just…you climbed up…fire escape…four floors…my apartment…”

Sam got enough from that to realize what Gabriel found so funny and he couldn’t help but laugh along with him at that one. “I was a little too drunk to notice that part. Thanks so much for pointing it out,” he said as sarcastically as he could manage through his laughter, but that just made Gabriel laugh harder. They even had to let a few people go in front of them as they tried to get themselves together. Sam was more than a little impressed with the little flip dive Gabriel did at the other end of the zip line before taking his own sedate plunge. 

Over the course of the day, Sam had realized that Gabriel still tensed up a bit when Sam grabbed him around the middle, so naturally, Sam made sure to do so every chance he got, usually following it up with a playful nibble to Gabriel’s neck as he pulled his back against him, and sometimes even a whisper of, “God, you’re beautiful,” in his ear. He could practically see Gabriel blooming from the attention and internally pat himself on the back for it. While they had been playing he had been going through their past interactions in his mind, and finally noticed all the things he had missed; Gabriel’s slight shifting away when he made the joke about him being ‘soft around the middle’, the tightness in his eyes when Sam mentioned how much food he’d ordered at the sports bar, his discomfort when Sam mentioned his love of chocolate. 

Sam at least partially let himself off the hook because those had just been innocent comments that someone without those insecurities would have never thought twice about, and Gabriel had apparently been trying to hide it, so he didn’t really blame himself. That didn’t mean he didn’t need to fix it though. He still hated that Gabriel felt that way, and got the feeling there was more to the story than just him feeling inadequate next to Sam, and he vowed to pay more attention in the future and make sure that Gabriel knew just how attractive Sam found him, pudge and all. 

They took an ice cream break, mid-afternoon, sitting at one of the benches as they ate, and Sam didn’t miss how uncomfortably straight Gabriel was sitting as he ate his chocolate cone in a fudge shell with chocolate sprinkles on top, and Sam took comfort in the fact that his concerns weren’t affecting his eating habits at least, but didn’t like that they were affecting him at all. He slid closer, sliding an arm around Gabriel’s side, and whispering, “Relax, would you,” in his ear. “You’re perfect just the way you are.” 

Gabriel hadn’t actually realized that he’d been doing it until that point, so when Sam pointed it out, he took a deep breath and forced himself to relax, frowning down at the way his stomach rolled a bit when he did. Sam just plastered himself against Gabriel’s side and reached his hand around to rest on it. “Like I said. Perfect,” he said nibbling on Gabriel’s ear as he said it. 

Gabriel didn’t believe him in the slightest, but he appreciated the thought, and Sam’s efforts did help him feel a little bit better about it. At least, about Sam’s perceptions of it. The initial assurances could have been out of obligation after all, but he could have just as easily dropped it after that, and Gabriel wouldn’t have thought less of him, but it really seemed not to bother him, so as much as he still felt completely inadequate next to Sam’s perfectly chiseled body, he managed to let it go for the most part.


	10. Chapter 10

They had noticed a few looks at the water park, usually from the older contingent, but no one else actually said anything, so they were easily ignored. That was nothing new. Even in California, Sam had dealt with that from time to time. Given their attire, they weren’t going anyplace nice for dinner and just hit a small dinner near the water park that was used to dealing with wet customers in swim-wear, though of course they had replaced their shirts before leaving the water park. 

Once they were settled with their food, Gabriel said, “Okay so since I’m guessing your previous dating history will be much shorter you can go first,” he said, eager to put off his own as long as possible. 

Sam nodded. The only part that would be difficult for him to talk about would be the end, but he had every intention of including the types of things he wanted to hear from Gabriel too, so was glad for the opportunity to set the tone. “Well I never really dated much in high school. A few one off dates here and there. The occasional goodnight kiss and all, but that was about it. When I got to Stanford, I hit it off with this guy from my dorm a few floors below me, and we had a pretty quick fling, which is when I figured I was bi. That didn’t last long though and then I met my first real girlfriend, Jessica. We were together for about two years. We moved in together after the first year, but it never really felt right, you know. She figured it out before I did. Probably because of our less than active sex life, but turned out I wasn’t as bi as I thought,” Sam said with a shrug, only admitting all this because he knew that Gabriel of all people would never judge him for it. 

“That’s a pretty common progression, I understand. How did she react?” Gabriel asked curiously, wondering if she was the reason he tended to act like he was about to get scolded at the same time as daring Gabriel to do so. 

“Oh she was good with it. We talked and decided to go back to being friends. I moved into the spare room until I found another place to stay and we still keep in touch, though not as often since we’re both super busy most of the time. Me with law school and her with med school. We had been split up for about a year when I started seeing Gordon,” Sam said sucking in a sharp breath at the name and Gabriel leaned forward interestedly. He suspected that this was where he would figure Sam out the most. “He was great at first. Always showed plenty of interest in my life, my friends, what I was doing, and where I was going. All the things you would expect an attentive boyfriend to do. I never really noticed when it crossed the line. When it stopped being less than interest and started turning into controlling. Eventually, I couldn’t even speak to one of my friends without him getting pissy about, and god forbid I ever go anywhere without him. Every time someone looked at me, whether I encouraged it or not. Hell, whether I NOTICED or not, he would lose it.” 

“Did he hit you, Sam?” Gabriel asked concerned. 

“No. Well not until the end. The night I left, he went off on me because he had noticed me walking with a friend from class since we were going the same direction and when I got home, he lost it. He pulled a knife from the kitchen and tried to kill me before I unfroze enough to fight back. It got pretty nasty, but in the end I knocked him out, grabbed my stuff and walked away, and never looked back.”

“How long ago was that?” Gabriel asked curiously. He would need to know how fresh all that was on Sam’s mind. 

“That was a little over a year ago,” Sam told him. 

Gabriel nodded. Long enough for him to be mostly over it, but the scars could still run deep. “I need you to know, Sam, that I will never do that to you. EVER. I will probably ask about your day, who you talked to, where you went, but never with anything like that in mind. Just because I’m genuinely interested in your life. I would love to go out with you and your friends sometimes, if you invite me, but I would never try to keep you from hanging out with them alone. Who you talk to and where you go is your business, and please promise me, if you ever feel like I’m getting too interested for your comfort, you’ll talk to me about it?” 

“Okay. I will, Gabe. Thanks,” Sam said with a smile. He liked that Gabriel was clearly laying out the lines that he wouldn’t cross so Sam could know what to expect. He didn’t even realize how much that would help until this moment. 

“How much of that do your friends know?” Gabriel asked, wondering if that’s why the girl was wary of him. 

“Pretty much none of it. I just told them we had a fight and called it quits. If they knew, they’d track him down and kill him in a heartbeat,” Sam told him. 

“Well I can’t say the idea isn’t tempting,” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “But he’s just not worth the trouble it would cause. Not when doing so would take me away from you.”

That sentiment warmed Sam more than he could say, and he reached across the table, taking Gabriel’s hand and giving a grateful squeeze. “Okay. Your turn,” Sam told him. 

“Well, I’ve always known that I’m just as interested in guys as girls, though I only dated girls through high school and the first half of college. Guys at that age were notoriously too entrenched in being macho and homophobic,” he said reminding Sam that he was from a different generation. “I got my first boyfriend in my third year of culinary school, and it went well. There weren’t any major issues or drama. It just kinda fizzled out.” Gabriel gave a brief outline of his next two relationships, a girl and another guy, that also were very uneventful before he said, “And then there was Kali. We were together for almost five years. We almost got married, even.”

“What happened?” Sam asked curiously. 

“A week before the wedding, I came home early to surprise her and found her in bed with my brother,” Gabriel said emotionlessly. 

“Oh, god,” Sam said wide-eyed. “What’d you do?” 

“Punched him out and told her to get out of my sight forever. I let her keep her key long enough for her to come in the next day while I was at work to clean her stuff out, threatening a lawsuit if she touched one thing that rightfully belonged to me. Of course, she took everything that she could possibly lay claim to, no matter how dubious, even most of the furniture, but I didn’t care. I’ve never seen her again since that night about six years ago.”

Sam understood the hatred for the one brother that Gabriel had mentioned now, and couldn’t blame him a bit. “Did you have any idea? I mean, were there signs or anything?” Sam asked. 

“There were if I hadn’t been too blind to see them,” Gabriel told him. “She was always comparing me to my brothers, pointing out the fact that I just never stacked up well against them, but especially Ralph. I’m sure she would have slept with any of them, but only Ralph was cold enough to do that to his own brother.”

“Never stacked up against them how?” Sam asked wondering if that was where Gabriel’s body issues came from. 

“In any way. I’ve always been the least of my brothers,” Gabriel said, and kept talking before Sam could protest. “Michael is an executive VP of Dad’s company, Luke is one of the top plastic surgeons in the world. Ralph is an industrial engineer for a high-end weapons distribution companies, and I’m just a baker. Forget the fact that I could have been any of those things if I wanted to. I just love to bake. The fact that I chose that to do with my life when I could have done so much more just made things worse to her. She thought I was wasting my life, and never hesitated to point out how it showed physically as well. Especially near the end she was rather obsessive about me ‘dieting’ so I would fit into my tux for the wedding without looking like a ‘marshmallow’. My brothers all have six-packs and toned bodies. A lot like you actually. I’ve just never been able to do that. Even when I was in my prime and actually tried. It was just never me.” 

“You have more of what I think they call a swimmer’s body. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Sam interrupted, realizing now where Gabriel’s insecurities came from. “And as I’ve said, I think you’re gorgeous just the way you are, and she was nuts to think otherwise.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Gabriel said with a smile. He hated talking about all this, but Sam was making it easier. “So yeah, there were plenty of other signs too. She was always calling me at the bakery to make sure that I was keeping my normal schedule, said so that she could make plans for the evenings, but obviously it was to make sure I wouldn’t come home early and surprise her. She was always rather cryptic about where she was going and with who whenever I asked, and even took a lot of overnight trips with ‘friends’.”

Sam nodded. He definitely understood now why Gabriel would show interest in where he was going and with who, even if he wouldn’t take issue with it. He just wanted to know that Sam would tell him. “Well, I would never do that to you. To anyone,” he promised, taking the same tack that Gabriel had after he’d explained about Gordon. “I couldn’t imagine sleeping around on someone like that. I would always break off a relationship before going after someone else, and the idea that she still planned to marry you after all that…it’s disgusting. I can’t promise I’ll never ask your schedule to make plans, but I’ll try to be as open as possible about it, so you don’t have to be concerned. I can’t promise I’ll never be cryptic about where I’m going and what I’m doing if I’m planning a surprise of some sort, especially around birthdays and Christmas, but I’ll keep this in mind and at least tell you I’m planning a surprise, rather than have it seem like I’m avoiding it for no reason. I probably will have my fair share of overnight trips for work, but again, I’ll always be open about it, and even call you as much as I can when I do.”

“And that’s all I can ask for, Sam. Thank you,” Gabriel said, with a grateful smile. Glad that Sam understood the potential hang-ups he had and was willing to work with him within reason. This was going well. So well in fact, “So, there have been a lot of assumptions about things continuing with us,” he said leadingly. 

Sam knew what he was asking, and nothing had changed his mind from what he decided earlier in the day, so he took the plunge. “I would definitely like to continue things with us. Officially,” he said trying to hide his nerves. Despite his near certainty that Gabriel was on the same page, putting things out there like that was always going to be nerve-wracking. 

“So would I,” Gabriel said letting out a breath that he’d been holding since he last spoke. 

“Good,” Sam said relieved, as they finished their meal and went to pay. The sun was just starting to set, and they walked home hand in hand, Gabriel walking Sam up to his apartment for a rather lengthy goodnight. As tempting as it was to continue things, it had been a rather long and emotional day, and he wanted to give things a few days to settle before taking that step. Apparently, Sam had the same idea because he didn’t make the offer either.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, as was becoming habit, Sam woke up a little early and headed to the bakery before going into the office for his first day. This time, it was early enough that Gabriel was still out front, refilling all the cases, and he looked up and beamed at Sam as he came in, already getting his coffee before Sam asked for some apple muffins. He joined him at the table saying, “Looking snazzy Sammykins. Excited for your first day as a big shot lawyer?” 

“I don’t know if excited is the word,” Sam said, honestly feel a little sick to his stomach with nerves. 

“You’ll be great, Sammy. I know it,” Gabriel tried to assure him. “Just don’t forget to breathe,” he gave him the advice he wished someone had given him his first day opening the shop. He’d done so much wrong just because he’d gotten into a panic and forgot that one simple thing. 

“Thanks, Gabriel,” Sam said giving his newly minted boyfriend a grateful smile. Just that quiet assurance had done wonders. Oh, he was still nervous as hell. He didn’t think anything would help that, but he didn’t feel on the edge of hysteria anymore. “I’ll probably be pretty busy this week, learning my way around and getting my feet wet. I hear they work the newbies to the bone, but if I get off late I’ll text you instead of call and you can just call me back if you’re still awake.”

“We can do that. I’ll definitely be awake tonight at least though. I’m not going to bed without hearing all about how you killed it on your first day,” Gabriel said cheerfully. The spent the remainder of the short meal, chatting about inconsequential things, Gabriel trying to get Sam to relax before he kissed him soundly and wished him luck as he left. 

Sam had waffled for a while on what type of law he wanted to do. For a long time, he had his heart set on criminal law, but the he realized that he would be legally required to do everything in his power to get potentially guilty men off or put potentially innocent men behind bars depending on which side he picked. He didn’t like the idea of holding people’s lives in his hand like that. In the end he had decided on corporate law. It wasn’t nearly as glamorous, but aside from tax loopholes there wasn’t much harm that could be done that way. 

Sam’s first day was spent with a quick tour of the place before being shown to a small office, and handed a file. “Your first client. Got the call on Friday that the owner wanted it in your hands,” his boss told him. “We’ll have a few more for you by lunchtime, but you can go ahead and familiarize yourself with this one,” he said as he walked out, leaving Sam to set up his office. First though, he opened the file, already suspecting what it was, and sure enough, the front page had the name, “Heavenly Delights” and Sam couldn’t help but grin. He should have known Gabriel would do that. Of course, he’d had no idea that Gabriel used his firm in the first place, and he recognized the trust that Gabriel was putting in his hands. It was just one more way that Gabriel was telling him that he had faith in him, and the most meaningful way at that. Putting his business…his baby…in Sam’s hands. That act alone gave Sam all the confidence he needed to tackle anything today. 

He was halfway through the file before it dawned on him that Gabriel was trusting him with much more than just doing a good job. He had the entire financial history of the bakery here in his hands. Every contract, every vendor, every supplier, all of it. Even the banking information. He could completely ruin Gabriel with all this information. Of course, it would mean breaking his oaths, destroying any chance at a career, and probably ending up in prison, but that wasn’t the point. The point was the he had it. That Gabriel trusted him as a lawyer and as his boyfriend and after his past, that was a heady thing. He couldn’t resist pulling out his phone and sending a quick text to Gabriel that just said, ‘thank you’. A moment later he got a smiley face in return, and he turned back to the file with a grin. 

He was just finishing his initial perusal when a young woman came in and dropped a stack of files on his desk, introducing herself as his secretary. He greeted her warmly and they chatted for a moment before he got back to work. He realized that he needed to get his office set up before tackling all that work. He got his office supplies set out, and set to arranging his filing cabinets. That would normally be the secretaries job, but he asked her to let him do it this time. Just to set the initial filing system, and then she could take over. It took him a few tries before he figured out how he wanted it organized. He had small business in one cabinet, chains in another, and large corporations in the third, not that he had any large corporations yet. He figured he’d need a little more tenure before they trusted him with a big account. Most of his files were small businesses, and there were only a few smaller chains in the mix. 

He filed Heavenly Delights first since he’d already looked over that one and pulled the top one off the stack of the ones the secretary had brought and got to work. This week was set aside for him to just familiarize himself with the files and have daily meetings with his boss about his progress and then the normal new hire meetings with people like HR, payroll, and so on. He checked his schedule and realized that his daily check-in meetings were after lunch, except today he didn’t have one but had the meeting with HR in it’s place. The rest of the week, the new hire meetings were mid-morning. He would be expected to know all these files at least reasonably well by the end of the week and he was already tired just looking at them. At least Heavenly Delights was the only established business. The rest were fairly new and thus had much less information to look over. 

True to Sam’s prediction, he had been insanely busy all week. Most nights he managed a short conversation with Gabriel before his boyfriend had to get to bed, but other than their morning chats over Sam’s breakfast, he hadn’t managed to see him at all. By Thursday, he’d made a decision. His weekly outings with his friends would change to monthly for a while. At least long enough for him to figure out a decent schedule, but for the time being, he wanted to spend the little bit of time he had on the weekends with Gabriel. He supposed that was what happened when you finally grew up. He now understood why Dean never joined them more than once a month. He was also busy running the shop. The rest of the group worked normal nine to five jobs or were in and out of work too often to have any kind of schedule like Walt and Roy, so they didn’t have to worry about such things. 

When he told Gabriel about his free Saturday and asked to spend it with him, Gabriel immediately accepted, and they made plans to meet up for lunch before going rollerblading. Sam really needed to get out of the office and do something active on the weekend. He hadn’t even made it to the gym all week, though he had been able to get his runs in during his lunch break, at least. He was starting to understand why so few lawyers were in good physical shape. There just wasn’t enough time. 

When he knocked on Gabriel’s door at eleven thirty on Saturday, he had barely opened it before Sam pulled him into a desperate kiss. “I’ve missed you,” he said when they broke for air. 

Gabriel chuckled. “I can see that,” he said amusedly before kissing Sam again. “I’ve missed you too.” Part of Gabriel just wanted to spend the day in today where he could just cuddle up to Sam to his hearts content, but he understood Sam’s need to be active after being shut in an office all week. Maybe tomorrow he could pitch the staying in idea. “O’Malleys for lunch?” Gabriel suggested, guessing that Sam hadn’t had a hearty meal all week, and he would have been right. It had been mostly sandwiches and granola bars with the occasional salad thrown in. 

“Perfect,” Sam said happily, throwing his arm around Gabriel’s shoulders as they headed out. Now that they were officially together their conversations had been getting deeper and more personal, short though they were, and it continued at lunch before they hit the park with their rollerblades, not that Gabriel admitted that he’d had to go out and buy some yesterday after Sam suggested it. It didn’t take long for Sam to figure it out though with how many times Gabriel ended up on his ass. “You’ve never been rollerblading before have you,” Sam asked with a laugh as he helped Gabriel up for the fourth time. 

“Nope. It was considered far too ‘undignified’ to be acceptable in my family as a kid, and never really had the occasion as an adult,” Gabriel admitted sheepishly. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Sam asked amusedly. 

“I didn’t think it would be this hard,” Gabriel said with an adorable pout. 

Sam just chuckled and pressed a quick kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “Here, just lock your knees and worry about balance. I’ll do the rest,” Sam told him as he turned around to skate backwards, taking Gabriel’s hands and pulling him along for a while until he got the hang of that part. Once he did, Sam switched and moved behind him, putting his hands on Gabriel’s hips to hold him steady as he taught him to push himself along. 

Once they stopped for dinner, Gabriel said, “Sorry I kinda ruined your plans by making you play teacher all day.”

“Are you kidding? I had a blast. It was far from ruined,” Sam said cheerfully. “I plan to teach you many other ‘undignified’ things in the future too,” he promised, and Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh at that. 

After dinner, when they got back to Gabriel’s apartment, after a long kiss at the door, Gabriel pulled back and asked a little nervously, “You wanna come in?” biting his lip as he waited for a response.


	12. Chapter 12

“Oh god, yes,” Sam breathed out, attacking Gabriel’s lips again, as the smaller man fumbled with the door behind him, finally managing to get it open causing them both to stumble as they made their way inside. No sooner than the door was closed behind them, Gabriel was kicking off his shoes, backing Sam towards the bedroom while unbuttoning his shirt as they went, so Sam followed suit. By the time they tumbled into the bed they were both shirtless and Gabriel was kissing and licking is way over Sam’s shoulders and collarbones while shaking hands attacked his belt, finally getting it and his pants undone right around the time he was wrapping his lips around one of Sam’s nipples. He was sliding Sam’s pants off, along with his own a moment later. As much as he may like to take his time and be slow and sweet here, he’d been running dry for far too long to even bother, and Sam definitely didn’t seem to mind the fast pace either. 

No sooner than he was back in place, Gabriel ran his tongue over the tip of Sam’s cock while reaching into his bedside drawer for his lube. As he was wrapping his lips around Sam and sucking him down his first finger breeched Sam’s entrance, going straight for the sweet spot and Sam was arching up off the bed, tangling his hand in Gabriel’s hair with a low moan, and Gabriel’s cock was already twitching with anticipation. Fuck he wanted so bad to be inside Sam, like, now, but he didn’t want to hurt him so he just prepped him as quickly as humanly possible. As he was sliding the second finger in, he moved down to deepthroat Sam, getting an, “Oh god…Gabriel…” in response. It wasn’t long before Sam was pulling Gabriel off his cock. “Wait…not…not so fast…wanna cum with you inside me,” he gasped out. 

Gabriel slid back up Sam’s body at that, pulling him into a deep kiss as he slid a third slick finger inside Sam, slowing down when Sam hissed in pain and gradually building his speed before he was sure that Sam was ready. He quickly opened the condom he’d grabbed when he grabbed the lube and slid it over his own aching length before sliding in slowly, with his own gasping moan. He reached down to stroke Sam slowly as he drew his own hips back and forth just as slowly, trying not to end this too soon, but apparently Sam had other ideas as he was raising his hips to meet every thrust and he panted out, “Fuck Gabriel…just fuck me.”

That was the last straw for Gabriel’s control and he slammed in hard as Sam cried out, “Yes! Fuck…harder…faster.” Gabriel did his best to comply and was soon pounding into him so hard Sam had his hands braced on the headboard and Gabriel was stroking Sam faster timing the twist at the top to coincide with the press against Sam’s prostate and he felt the clenching around him a second before the first spurt hit his hand and then he was coming too, adding his own keening moan to Sam’s as they rode out the wave. 

Once they were spent, Gabriel collapsed next to Sam on the bed and the taller man wasted no time pulling Gabriel close. Despite being all out of breath and sweaty, he wasn’t about to let Gabriel get far now. One hand drew slowly through Gabriel’s sweat-slick hair as the other danced over his back and side. “Sorry. It’s been a while,” Sam said breathlessly. 

“Nothing to be sorry about. I was in the same boat,” Gabriel said with a breathy chuckle. “Next time slow and sweet.”

“Absolutely,” Sam agreed, as they started to catch their breath, just lying there basking in each other’s presence. 

When Gabriel was tracing circles and lines on Sam’s chest and stomach, smearing his cum around as he did, Sam couldn’t resist the urge to joke, “You know that’s not frosting right?” 

Gabriel just looked up at him completely innocently as he pulled a finger to his mouth and sucked it clean, “Are you sure? Tastes just as good.” 

Sam barked out a laugh at that, so decided to take a different tact, “Okay, then I’m not a cake,” he said amusedly. 

Gabriel’s lips twitched for a second before he said, “No. You’re much better than a cake,” and leaned up for a kiss. 

“That’s high praise coming from you,” Sam joked once his lips were free again and Gabriel just laid his head back down humming contentedly. 

They laid there for a good long while before Sam’s hands started moving more insistently over Gabriel’s skin, sliding down over his ass and squeezing every few minutes, and Gabriel knew that he was ready for round two. Only the fact that he’d been dry for so long had him up there with him, and as Sam laid him back, leaning over him, trailing lips and teeth and tongue over Gabriel’s neck, he reminded Sam, “Don’t get used to the quick recovery times. I’m old you know.” 

“I won’t, and you’re perfect,” Sam whispered as his hand trailed over Gabriel’s stomach before wrapping around his hardening length. He knew that Gabriel was older than him and thus not normally as energetic in such things, so he knew better than to expect this often. Tonight though…tonight they both needed it. “You got more condoms?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“Mhmm. Top drawer,” Gabriel told him, knowing what was coming and looking forward to it greatly. It had been a very very long time since he’d bottomed. More than a decade. Since his last boyfriend before Kali. He’d had a few one night stands since then, but he always topped then, not willing to trust any random stranger to do so. 

Sam reached into the drawer, feeling around all the toys until he found the package of condoms. He made a mental note that they needed to try out some of those toys one day, but not today. He pulled one out and set it aside until they were ready for it, shifting on top of Gabriel as his lips trailed over Gabriel shoulder and down to his chest. He quickly coated his fingers in the lube and slid one inside Gabriel, moaning at the tightness of it. He continued down Gabriel’s chest to his stomach, ignoring the way Gabriel tensed slightly and pressed long sloppy kisses over the soft skin as he murmured, “You are so fucking beautiful.” 

It wasn’t until Sam was sliding a second finger inside that he finally turned his attention to Gabriel’s leaking cock, swirling his tongue around the tip before swallowing him down. “Oh fuck Sam,” Gabriel gasped as his hand moved to wrap in Sam’s hair. “Careful, if you get me off now, there’s no way in hell you’re getting more out of me tonight,” he warned breathlessly. Sam just hummed in agreement around the cock in his mouth, but slowed down anyway. That didn’t mean he couldn’t make it good. It just meant he couldn’t get Gabriel too close to the edge. Every time he felt Gabriel getting too close he would pull off and take some time to trail wet kisses over his stomach and sides. 

By the time he had three fingers moving comfortably inside Gabriel, he’d had to pause three times, but then he was ready. When he removed his fingers, Gabriel whimpered at the loss. Sam quickly unwrapped the condom and slid it on before sliding slowly inside the tight warmth. Once he was in, he stilled, leaning down to kiss Gabriel deeply before he started moving, keeping an easy pace. Once he broke the kiss for air, he pulled back to look into Gabriel’s beautiful amber eyes as he brushed his sweat-slick hair away from his forehead as Gabriel’s hands roamed slowly over every inch of Sam’s body he could reach. 

After a few minutes, Sam sat back on his knees, pulling Gabriel with him so that he was sitting in his lap as he hugged him tightly, hands roaming over Gabriel’s back and lips trailing over the soft skin of his neck as Gabriel leaned his head back, trusting Sam to hold him up and giving him better access to his neck and throat as they moved slowly together. Eventually, even after getting off once, they couldn’t help but pick up the pace and Sam laid Gabriel back down, throwing his legs over his shoulders, leaning down to kiss him deeply as he began to thrust harder and faster into Gabriel’s tight ass. He reached down, stroking Gabriel in time with his thrusts as they panted and moaned into each other’s mouths before Sam came, crying Gabriel’s name and Gabriel was right behind him. 

Sam collapsed on his stomach next to Gabriel, not even having the strength to flip over. He did manage to turn his head and rest it on Gabriel’s chest, his hand moving slow circled over Gabriel’s stomach and chest, not even caring about the mess he was smearing there. “That was perfect,” he breathed out. 

“Mhmm,” Gabriel hummed, tilting his head against Sam’s, too overcome both physically and emotionally for words at the moment. They lay there for a long time, Sam frequently pressing lazy kisses to Gabriel’s chest as Gabriel’s hand danced over Sam’s back before he whispered, “Stay tonight?” 

“Okay,” Sam easily agreed.


	13. Chapter 13

It was a little while later before Gabriel felt up to getting up and he said, “I think we could use a shower. Join me?” he asked hopefully. He definitely wasn’t up for any more sex tonight but he wanted to stay close to Sam, anyway. 

“Nuh,” Sam mumbled, holding tighter to Gabriel and burying his face in his neck. 

Gabriel laughed. “Come on, Sammykins. I’m supposed to be the old man here,” he teased, poking Sam in the side and getting a squirm and a squawk. Gabriel used the opportunity to slip from Sam’s grip and get up. “Well I’m going to take a shower. Feel free to join me if you want,” he said before slipping into the bathroom. 

Gabriel had just stepped into the shower and gotten good and wet when he heard the curtain pull back and then a pair of warm arms slide around him from behind. He tilted his head to the side as Sam kissed his neck, before reaching around him to grab the shampoo. Gabriel was surprised, but very pleased when Sam started rubbing the shampoo into his hair instead of his own, and he turned around to give him a kiss for his troubles, backing up enough to get Sam under the spray and himself out of it. 

They took a long time in the shower washing each other before they ended up back in bed, still naked, wrapped in each other’s arms. They next morning, they woke up, still tangled together and neither knew the last time they’d slept better. Gabriel got his wish to spend the day inside, as they barely left the bed until mid-afternoon, and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening curled up in front of the television. “You wanna stay again tonight?” Gabriel asked, knowing that his chances of seeing Sam before next weekend were slim and not wanting to say goodbye just yet. 

“I’ll need to run over to my apartment and grab my work clothes for the morning,” Sam told him, and quickly left to do so. He knew that he was getting in over his head, but he just couldn’t help it. He was back ten minutes later, and Gabriel moved some stuff around his closet, so Sam could hang up his suit before they went to bed. 

It went like that for the next few weeks, Sam being worked to death all week and spending the weekends wrapped up with Gabriel. He had started stacking his work, so he could get out at a reasonable time on Fridays, reasonable meaning by 6, so he and Gabriel could have dinner, which meant he was spending three nights a week at Gabriel’s apartment. Sam knew that he was falling hard for Gabriel, but hadn’t gotten up the nerve to say anything yet by the time all hell broke loose. 

He had actually managed to get off somewhat early and was walking home when he ran into Jo in the street. “Hey Jo. How you been?” he asked amicably as they met on the street corner. The same street corner between the bakery and the apartments. 

“You’d know if you hadn’t thrown us over the second you got a boyfriend,” she said irritably, not at all happy with Sam for bailing on the last few nights out. 

“It’s not because of my boyfriend, it’s because of my job. Jesus Jo. I’m working sixty plus hours a week these days,” he told her frustrated. 

“So, you’re telling me, you haven’t been hanging out with him either,” she asked pointedly. When Sam didn’t answer, she scoffed. “You know, you’d be much better off dating someone who wouldn’t take you away from your friends.”

“I’m happy with who I’m dating now thanks,” he told her, and was getting ready to walk off before either of them said something they’d regret when she suddenly plastered herself against him and kissed him. Sam was too surprised to do anything but stand there and take it for a moment, eyes wide, until he noticed Gabriel standing there frozen on the sidewalk with a look of complete betrayal on his face. That was all the impetus Sam needed to unfreeze himself and shove Jo away. “Gabriel…” he said taking a step towards him. 

Gabriel’s look turned to a sneer before he said, “Fuck off, Sam,” and stormed past them, dodging Sam’s outstretched arm, determined to get to his own apartment before he let the tears start to fall. He’d thought this time would be different, but no. Of course not. He was just cursed. He couldn’t believe that he was stupid enough to fall for the whole working late excuses. 

He was, unfortunately, still in earshot to hear her say, “That old guy is the guy you’ve been seeing?” and laugh. He was inside the building before he heard Sam’s response. 

“Get the hell away from me, Jo. I don’t know if you did that on purpose or not, but we’re through. Stay out of my life,” he snarled as he turned to run after Gabriel. He got inside the building just in time to see the elevator doors close behind him and rather than wait for the next one and risk missing him, Sam took to the stairs just as fast as humanly possible. He emerged at the other end of the hall just in time see Gabriel stepping off the elevator and ran towards him, slightly out of breath by this point, and he said, “Gabriel, please. Just hear me out,” 

Sam reached him just as Gabriel was putting the key in the lock to his apartment and grabbed his arm, Gabriel just jerked his arm away and glared at Sam heatedly, tears shining in his eyes. “I don’t want to hear it,” he snapped. 

“Please, Gabriel. Just…don’t…” Gabriel got the door open and stepped inside, blocking Sam from following him. “I love you, Gabriel, please.”

Gabriel spun around eyes flashing in anger. “Are you fucking kidding me? You pull this shit and then try to tell me you love me? Go to hell, Sam,” he said as he slammed the door in Sam’s face. 

Sam banged on the door, “Gabriel. Come on. Please. Just talk to me.” He still didn’t get a response. so he knocked again. “Gabriel, SHE kissed ME. I just froze.” Still no answer. “I’m not leaving until you talk to me.” That was the cue for Gabriel to start blaring music, and some distant part of Sam’s mind wondered when Gabriel had started listening to metal, but it was drowned out by the rest of him that would do anything to make Gabriel listen. He even considered going around to the fire escape and breaking in again, but he figured this time Gabriel might actually take the bat to him and/or call the police. If he was blaring that kind of music, then he was extremely pissed right now, and Sam couldn’t blame him. He knew how it looked. He hadn’t even called Gabriel when he got off early, intending to surprise him by waiting outside his building when he got home and then this happened. He’d meant what he said when he said he wasn’t leaving though. 

After Gabriel slammed the door in Sam’s face, he shut himself in his bedroom, far enough that he couldn’t hear anything Sam tried to say through the door, and picked up his phone to call one of his employees to have them open the bakery in the morning. He said he wasn’t feeling well. That settled he walked out of the bedroom in time to hear Sam say that he wasn’t leaving until Gabriel talked to him so Gabriel just walked over to the stereo, grabbed the first CD he got his hands on and turned the volume up. He almost cringed as he heard what it was, but then shrugged. At least it was appropriate. As was the full tub of ice cream he grabbed from the freezer after changing clothes while he sat on the couch and cried himself to sleep, oblivious to his boyfriend sitting in the hallway doing the same thing. 

Once the music started, Sam turned and slid down the wall, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on them, as the tears started to flow. He hated himself right now, and he hated Jo even more. How dare she pull that shit? The more he thought about it, the more he considered the fact that she must have done it on purpose. It was just too perfect, her standing right on that particular corner at that particular time. He wondered how many days she’d stood there waiting for him before he finally got off work in time to meet her, and he realized that if he was right, then Gabriel would have even more reason to be suspicious. If he walked by her, looking like she was waiting for someone, every day, and then today he sees that…well obviously he would assume that Sam’s been meeting her. Fucking Jo. He wanted to strangle her right now.


	14. Chapter 14

Gabriel woke up in the middle of the night and moved from the couch to his bed, turning his alarm off as he did. When he woke up around seven the next morning he made his way to the kitchen, not intending to leave the apartment until at least mid-morning when he was sure that Sam would be at work. He would head to the bakery then and work out the day and god help Sam if he came around for their date tonight expecting everything to be hunky dory. 

When Gabriel finally felt like it was safe to leave around ten am, he opened the apartment door and tripped over Sam, waking him up in the process. “What the fuck?” Gabriel snapped. 

“I told you, I’m not leaving until you talk to me,” Sam said as clearly as he could manage having just woken up, reaching up to grab Gabriel’s wrist before he could walk away. 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Gabriel said, snatching his arm away. “I’m going to work.” He reached over Sam to close the door, making sure it was locked before he started to walk away. 

“Then I’m following you,” Sam said pulling himself to his feet. 

“The hell you are. Aren’t you supposed to be at work too?” 

“I called out. You’re more important,” Sam told him. 

“Oh, now I’m more important,” Gabriel scoffed. “While you’re going around screwing with that blonde bitch behind my back, I barely rate a ‘hi, how are you’ all week, but now I matter? Screw you, Sam. I’m nobody’s side piece.” Sam snapped at that and grabbed Gabriel’s shoulders slamming him against the wall, a little rougher than he intended. He’d just meant to hold Gabriel there and make him listen, but he was upset and still half asleep and didn’t always realize his own strength at the best of times. “If you don’t want to find out just how scrappy I am, you better get your hands off me right now,” Gabriel snarled. 

Sam pulled his hands away like he’d been electrocuted. “I’m sorry, Gabriel. Really. But it’s not what you think…Please just hear me out,” he said as he stepped in front of Gabriel before he could walk away, making sure not to touch him this time. 

Gabriel’s eyes flashed with anger, but he gritted his teeth and said, “If I listen will you promise to leave me alone?” 

“Yes,” Sam promised, knowing that was the best deal he was going to get. 

“Fine. Talk,” Gabriel said crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. 

“I managed to finish work early and I missed you so I was going to come surprise you by waiting outside your building, but then I ran into Jo. She started on about how I was abandoning my friends for you because I haven’t been out with them in a few weeks and then she kissed me and I froze. Just…think about what you saw for a second,” Sam begged him. Gabriel just narrowed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about it. “Did you see me kissing her back? No. Did you see me touching her in any way? No. My arms were at my sides Gabriel, because I didn’t want that and wasn’t expecting it at all. Did I seem at all into it to you? I know I didn’t because I wasn’t. I meant what I said last night Gabriel. I do love you. I would never, ever hurt you. Please believe that.”

“You done?” Gabriel asked coldly. He saw the tears welling up in Sam’s eyes as he nodded, and Gabriel just stormed off down the hall. Part of him wanted so badly to believe Sam, but he just couldn’t. Not right now. Not after everything. Maybe when he calmed down he would actually be able to consider it.

Sam stood there like a statue, tears streaming down his face for a long time before he walked back to his apartment, not even caring how many people saw him crying. He wanted to follow Gabriel to the bakery, or at least sit there waiting for him to come home, but he had made a promise. If Gabriel listened, he would leave him alone. Sam got home and sat on his couch, turning the tv on and pulling his knees to his chest. He couldn’t have said what was on the television at any point that day. 

Gabriel managed to keep a mostly cheerful face on for the customer’s but even they could tell that something was off. His employees caught the brunt of his attitude though, as he walked through snapping at everyone for everything. Only the fact that it was so out of character for him kept them all from quitting, but one of the newer girls had to run to the bathroom and cry for a while. Unfortunately, Gabriel didn’t notice because that would have calmed his mood considerably. 

It was well after lunch before the kid working the counter came back to tell Gabriel that someone was looking for him. “Is it Sam?” Gabriel asked, wondering if Sam had broken yet another promise. 

“No. I’ve never seen him before.”

Gabriel put on his customer face as he washed his hands before he stepped out. “I’m Gabriel. How can I help you?” 

“Yeah, hi. I know you don’t know me, but my name is Garth, and I’m a friend of Sam’s…”

“So now he’s sending his friends after me?” Gabriel said trying not to lose his cool in his place of business. 

“No. I haven’t even talked to Sam today. Jo told me this morning what she did, so I went looking for Sam, but he wasn’t at the office. They said he called out sick, but he’s not answering his phone and when I went by his apartment he won’t come to the door either, so then I got really worried and came looking for you,” Garth explained in his usual rambling manner. They had all long figured out who it was that Sam was seeing but since he obviously hadn’t wanted them to know they’d kept their distance until now. 

“And what exactly did she tell you?” Gabriel asked. If this guy was telling the truth about not having talked to Sam, then he might be able to find out the truth once and for all. Unless of course, they had a story planned for this eventuality, but he would give them the benefit of the doubt for now. If this story matched Sam’s he would at least talk to him and consider things a little more fully. 

“She said that she had been waiting to ambush him on the street near your work, hoping you would see them so you would dump him. She actually thought he would coming running back to us, her in particular, if you did. I told her she was an idiot and Sam would never come near her again if she were on fire after that stunt, but she still thought she was right,” Garth told him. 

“So, what? You’re here to plead his case for him?” Gabriel asked softening a bit, but not quite ready to let it go completely. 

“Sam told us a little bit about your past. Not enough to betray any confidences, just that you’ve had bad experiences in the past without the specifics. I know this probably looks bad to you. Jo intentionally set it up to look that way. But I’m asking you, as someone who’s known Sam most of our lives, give him a chance. He is the most honest, loyal person you could ever meet, and he would never cheat on anyone. You make him happy, and I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that he makes you happy. Don’t throw that away because Jo is a bitch.” Garth paused at that, and when he saw that Gabriel was actually thinking about it, he said, “Well that’s all I had to say, so I’ll let you get back to work now.”

Gabriel headed to the back again, not noticing the collective sigh of relief when he seemed to have deflated his temper. Instead, he went through the next two hours on auto-pilot as he thought over what Garth had said and what Sam had said and even eventually pulled up that moment from his memory and realized that Sam was right. His hands had been at his sides, and he had a shocked look on his face before he pushed her away, and Gabriel groaned. How could he have been so stupid? He should have just listened to Sam. He should have heard him out. He had to fix this. If he was lucky, Sam would still forgive him. 

Gabriel headed out, not having to close up tonight so he would let everyone else handle things for the rest of the day. It was about the time he normally left anyway, so it didn’t matter. He and Sam had never done the whole flowers thing, considering it too girly, but maybe just this once it would be a good idea. He walked down to the florist at the end of the block and grabbed a bouquet of roses. If nothing else, maybe the over the top-ness of it would give Sam enough of a laugh to earn him a little leeway. He swung back by the bakery and grabbed a strawberry shortcake to go with the roses and rushed over to Sam’s apartment.


	15. Chapter 15

As Gabriel walked up to Sam’s door, he could hear the phone ringing, but Sam seemed to be ignoring it. If he was even home. But then it sounded like Sam’s cell, so why would he leave home without his cell. Gabriel knocked on the door and didn’t get an answer. He knocked again and, “Sam, it’s Gabriel. Can we talk? Please?” he had a brief thought about the irony of the role-reversal. He didn’t have much time for that thought though before the door wrenched open, and Gabriel caught sight of Sam standing there in sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt with tear tracks down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, Sam. I should’ve listened,” Gabriel said feeling his heart break at what he’d done to his boyfriend. He held out the flowers and the cake, only for them to go crashing to the floor when Sam grabbed him and kissed him desperately. Gabriel wrapped his hands in Sam’s hair pulling himself up to kiss him back as he stepped forward enough to kick the door closed behind him, not noticing or caring that the stems of the roses were closed in the door. 

Once they broke for air, Gabriel just hugged Sam tightly and buried his face in his neck, thanking his lucky stars that he hadn’t lost this. At least not yet. They still had to talk about all this and there was still a chance that Sam would decide that Gabriel’s insecurities were too much for him to deal with, but for now he was standing here in Sam’s arms and there was no place he’d rather be. It was quite a while before Sam loosened his grip enough to ask, “Roses?” amusedly. 

“I figured I’m sorry might not be enough,” Gabriel said sheepishly. 

“And a cake?” 

“Just in case you didn’t like the roses.”

Sam pulled back and looked deep into Gabriel’s expressive whiskey eyes. “I’m sorry is plenty, and you don’t even need to say that. All I need to hear is that you believe me and that you forgive me,” Sam said earnestly. 

“I do believe you, and there’s nothing to forgive,” Gabriel told him. 

“I froze. I should have pushed her away the second she touched me,” Sam said gravely. 

“We can all freeze in those situations, Sam. I can’t say I would have fared any better than you, honestly. I, on the other hand…”

“Reacted well within the bounds of normal. Especially for someone with your past,” Sam assured him. 

“I still should have listened. I should have trusted you. I just…I flashed back to finding Kali in bed with Ralph, and my mind kept telling me that you must not have been working late all those nights, that you must have been with her. It was stupid though. Even if that were true, you would hardly be stupid enough to be all over her right outside my job right at the time I always leave. Now that my head is clearer, it reeks of a setup, and I should have seen it then, so I’m sorry.”

“If it makes you feel better, you’re forgiven,” Sam told him. “But I do understand. Really,” Sam told him, motioning to the couch so they could sit for this conversation. Before he joined Gabriel though, he retrieved the flowers and the cake from the floor, found a tall glass to put the flowers in since he didn’t have any vases, and set them both on the dining room table. When he sat down next to Gabriel he couldn’t keep himself from reaching out to brush back that lock of hair that was always falling in Gabriel’s eyes. 

“What are you going to do about Jo?” Gabriel asked worriedly. On one hand, what she had done was horrible, but on they had been friends for their entire lives, and that meant something. 

“Nothing at all. She’s dead to me,” Sam said coldly. “Coming onto me, and even kissing me like that, I might could forgive, but the intentional setup? No. I’m done with her. If that means I can’t hang out with the group then so be it, but I will never willingly be in the same room with her again.”

“I don’t think they’re very happy with her either. At least Garth wasn’t,” Gabriel told him. 

“Huh?” Sam asked inelegantly. 

“Yeah, Garth came by the bakery today. Wanted to make sure I knew what she’d done. Apparently, her intention was for me to see you and dump you so you would go running back to her. He didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea.”

Sam huffed a little laugh. “No. Garth wouldn’t be. He’s one of those people who sees the world as sunshine and rainbows no matter how bad it gets and the idea that one of his friends could do something like that wouldn’t sit well with him. I don’t think he’d forgive her unless I did. The rest of the guys might be a different story though. Roy in particular has had a thing for Jo since grade school. I don’t think he’d throw her aside so easily and where Roy goes, Walt goes.”

“Would it be unreasonable to ask that I be there if she’s around you?” Gabriel asked, having no illusions that Sam would separate himself from his friends for long, with or without her. “I mean, I know you’re not planning to be around her, but I don’t think cutting yourself off from your friends would be a good thing, so you may have to deal with her at least sometimes.”

Sam didn’t have the slightest forgiveness for her right now and would be likely to beat her senseless if he saw her again, despite the fact that he had never hit a woman in his life, but if Gabriel needed that reassurance, he would give it to him. “It wouldn’t be unreasonable at all, and I promise, if I know she’s going to be there, I’ll bring you along. If she shows up later, I’ll either leave or call you to come down, whichever would make you more comfortable.” This whole situation was giving him uncomfortable flashbacks to Gordon, but he reminded himself that it was completely different circumstances. She’d already forced herself on him once with the intention of ruining his relationship, and Gabriel wasn’t asking for the same consideration for all his friends. Not even the ones that he could conceivably be interested in given his preferences, so he would give him this one. 

Gabriel noticed Sam’s discomfort with the idea though, and could have slapped himself. In all the worry over his own issues, he had completely forgotten Sam’s. “If it makes you uncomfortable, we can forget it. I do trust you, Sam, and I’m sure you can take care of yourself. Just, if you do, have one of your other friends keeping an eye out and make sure she doesn’t drug you or anything?” 

“No, it’s fine, Gabriel. Really. I know you’re not like Gordon, and given the situation you’re not asking for anything unreasonable. We’ll work it out. We have time. Either way, it will be a long time before I could even look at her without breaking my vow to never hit a woman,” Sam told him. When Gabriel nodded, Sam changed the subject. “So, you met Garth,” Sam said with a knowing smile. 

“Yeah. I did. I like him. I see what you mean by him being weird, but he seems like a good guy,” Gabriel told him. Anyone who went to such lengths for a friend was good in his book. 

“I didn’t even realize they knew who I was dating,” Sam said thoughtfully. “Though if anyone figured it out, I’m not surprised that it was Garth.”

“You were keeping me a secret?” Gabriel asked, hurt. 

“Not exactly. I mean, I told them about you and stuff, just not who you were or anything. I was a little worried that you would be the target of some hazing if I did. They can be rather immature and tactless sometimes,” Sam rushed to assure him. 

Gabriel wasn’t really sure what to think about that, so he settled for talking it out with Sam. “I get that you were trying to protect me and all, but I can take care of myself, you know.”

“I know. It’s just…” Sam trailed off, not really sure how to put it into words. 

“Just what?” Gabriel asked impatiently. 

“You’re just so much past all that childish garbage, but they’ve been my friends for pretty much my whole life and I just didn’t want you to think…”

“That you were as immature and childish as they are?” Gabriel figured it out and Sam nodded. “Look, Sam. Just because I’m older doesn’t mean I can’t take a joke. And I don’t judge people by association. I thought you would know that about me by now. Now, if they were murders or rapists or something like that and you were still friends with them knowing that, it might be different, but I can take a little hazing and give as good as I get if it comes to it. I’m not your average ‘old guy’.”

It wasn’t until he heard the bitterness in Gabriel’s voice at those last words that he remembered what Jo had said, and what he must have heard. “I didn’t mean it like that, Gabe. It wasn’t a comment about your age. It was a comment about your maturity. You’re not ‘old’. Forget what Jo said in her little fit of pique. You’re perfect for me. Always,” Sam said as heartfelt as he could manage. 

Gabriel couldn’t help the soft smile that lit his face at Sam’s words, and he reached out to cup Sam’s cheek. “And you’re perfect for me, Sam. I love you,” he finally returned the words that Sam had said before and had been carefully skirting around since he’d arrived. 

Sam surged forward and kissed Gabriel softly. “I love you, Gabe,” he whispered back.


	16. Chapter 16

About that time, Sam’s phone rang, and Sam rolled his eyes as he glanced at it. “That’s Garth again. He’s been calling every hour all day. Do you mind?” 

“Not at all,” Gabriel said waving at him to go ahead. 

“Hey Garth,” Sam answered. 

“Hey, Sam. So I have a confession to make…”

“Yeah, I heard,” Sam said with a chuckle, telling Garth he wasn’t mad. 

“So you talked to him?” 

“Yeah, he’s here now. We’re working it out.”

“Good. I’m glad. I won’t keep you long. You coming out this weekend?” Garth asked. 

“I was planning on it, but not if Jo is gonna be there,” Sam said bluntly. 

“No, I hear ya. Really. Let’s make a deal. You bring that boyfriend of yours out so we can meet him properly and I’ll sell Walt and Roy on the idea of making Jo disappear,” Garth offered. 

Only the fact that this was Garth and he would never even consider, much less suggest such a thing, kept him from wondering what he meant by ‘make her disappear’. “Hang on,” he told Garth before turning to Gabriel. “You up for a night out tomorrow night?” 

“Sure,” Gabriel said with a grin, glad that he was gonna get to meet the rest of Sam’s friends. That he was being let into that circle. 

“Okay, you got a deal,” Sam told Garth before they hung up. “Garth is gonna make sure Jo stays away.”

“Works for me,” Gabriel told him. “So are we going out tonight as planned or just staying in after all this.”

“If you can give me a little while to get cleaned up, we can go out,” Sam told him, not wanting to give up date night, and more than a little embarrassed that Gabriel had seen him like this anyway. If he had been thinking, he would have gone and thrown something else on before grabbing the door. 

“Take your time, Sammykins,” Gabriel told him with a smile before asking something he’d been wondering since he got there. “Any particular reason you’re watching the fishing channel?” 

Sam blinked at him for a moment before looking back at him and giving a sheepish shrug. “I haven’t even paid any attention to the tv since I turned it on. I just needed…” Sam wasn’t quite sure what he needed, but Gabriel knew. 

“Background noise,” he finished with a nod. He’d been there. Sometimes you just needed something to take away from the aching silence and help it not seem so suffocating. 

“Yeah. Something like that,” Sam said, giving Gabriel a kiss as he made his way to his room to change and Gabriel flipped through the channels absentmindedly while he waited. 

After their date, they stopped by Sam’s apartment, as had become routine, for him to grab what he would need for the weekend, including a suit for work on Monday. This time Sam also brought the flowers and the strawberry shortcake, explaining that by the time he got home Monday night they might be dead so this way he could enjoy them for the weekend first. Gabriel just grinned and kissed him for that one. 

The next day, around noon, Sam got a text and after looking at it, he snorted in amusement. When Gabriel looked at him curiously, he explained. “Apparently Jo was being a little resistant to the idea of skipping out tonight, so instead they’re just changing the venue and not telling her.”

Gabriel laughed. “Serves her right.” Gabriel was a little nervous about meeting Sam’s friends. He hoped he fit in okay. He didn’t really have a lot of friends of his own, having thrown himself so much into work for the last few years and all his friends before that had been joint friends with Kali, so making a good impression tonight was important to him. 

When they got to the new location when it opened around two, Sam quickly spotted his friends and walked over with Gabriel and plopped down, pulling Gabriel into his lap, and Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle at that. With that one move, Sam was both staking his claim, and making it clear that he wasn’t ashamed in the slightest. Gabriel was introduced around the circle before declaring that the first round was on him, pressing a quick kiss to Sam’s lips as he got up to go get beers for the group. 

Over the next few hours, there was a lot of good-natured ragging on Gabriel for his job, and on their relationship, and on Sam for disappearing the last few weeks, but it was all in fun and Gabriel cheerfully gave as good as he got. Around six, they grabbed the first round of shots, and despite it having been a very long time since Gabriel did shots, he joined in with the group and it wasn’t long before he was reasonably plastered, along with the rest of the group. 

It was about an hour later when their raucous laughter stopped short and Sam and Gabriel, with the latter still perched on his boyfriend’s lap, turned to see what the others were looking at and their faces hardened as the little blonde woman stormed over, glaring hardest at Gabriel. “Guess it takes a little more to get an old man to give up his trophy boy,” she sneered. 

Gabriel felt Sam’s arms tighten around Gabriel, almost like he was going to move him to likely take a swing at her, and he also saw the other guys starting to get up to say something, but he just held up a hand stopping everyone in their tracks. “See here’s the thing doll. When two people actually love each other, it takes more than a petty, vindictive little skank to come between them.” 

Sam just blinked in shock for a moment at the venom dripping from Gabriel’s words. Even the few times he’d seen Gabriel pissed, he’d never been so…cold. It simultaneously turned Sam on and creeped him out. When she raised her hand, that was the last straw for Sam as he jumped up, shifting Gabriel behind him and grabbed her wrist. “You put one finger on him and, girl or not, I WILL kill you.”

Gabriel just rolled his eyes and walked around Sam, bumping him out of the way. “I got this, Sammy,” he told him. He wasn’t about to stand there and be protected like some damsel in distress. He stepped up right in front of her, and hissed, “Go ahead. Hit me. I dare you.” She glanced up at Sam nervously who was just glaring right back at her. “Forget Sam. There won’t be anything left of you for him when I’m done with you.” She hesitated, a sliver of fear showing in her eyes, but Gabriel wasn’t going to let it go with anything but a full retreat. “Go ahead, little girl. Put your money where your mouth is. You won’t live to regret it.” Gabriel was just drunk enough, and all this was just fresh enough, not to mention the fact that he was flashing back to Kali right now, that he might actually make good on that threat. At least part of it anyway. He wouldn’t go so far as to actually kill her, of course. She didn’t know that though and the look in his eyes scared her shitless, so she turned and fled back out the door. Gabriel turned back to the table with a cheery, “Well that was fun,” as he shoved Sam back into the chair and plopped back in his lap. Only Sam noticed that his smile was a little tighter than it had been before the interruption. 

Everyone blinked at him for a second, not quite sober enough to keep up with his mood shifts before Walt and Roy burst into laughter. “Did you see her face?” Walt asked. 

“She looked like she was about to wet herself,” Roy added, nearly falling out of his chair, he was laughing so hard. This whole situation had considerably cooled his ardor towards her. Garth, slightly less shit-faced, just grinned amusedly at Gabriel and patted his back in acceptance as he got up to grab the next round of shots. Since they didn’t actually need a designated driver, none of them actually driving, Garth was more like the designated ‘make sure they didn’t kill themselves’ so he drank less, but was still free to get drunk enough, so he only took the shots every other round. 

Sam leaned up and whispered, “You good?” in Gabriel’s ear and Gabriel nodded almost unperceptively. “You wanna leave?” Sam asked. 

Gabriel resisted the urge to roll his eyes and turned to kiss Sam. “I’m good, Samshine. Really,” Gabriel told him. He felt like he had a win here today. He got to confront more than one demon and send her running for the hills. Once his adrenaline settled down, he’d be great. Judging by what he was feeling underneath him though… “Feels like you might be about ready to get out of here though,” he whispered suggestively in Sam’s ear, sucking the lobe into his mouth, feeling Sam’s breath hitch before he turned and downed the four shots that were placed in front of him.


	17. Chapter 17

Sam quickly downed his own four shots before he got up, pulling Gabriel towards the bathroom, and Gabriel followed along chuckling, leaving three laughing men at the table. If Gabriel had been in his right mind, he would never have gone this far, even though he wasn’t planning to let things go much farther, but he wasn’t in his right mind, and even his plans to keep things from going too far flew out of his head rather quickly. 

As the bathroom door closed behind them, Sam pressed Gabriel against the wall kissing him deeply, and Gabriel joined in just as enthusiastically. It wasn’t until Sam started fumbling with Gabriel’s belt that all thoughts of stopping this flew out of his head and soon both of them had their pants around their knees and Sam had two fingers pumping hard and fast in Gabriel’s ass. It wasn’t long after he slid a third finger in before he removed his lips from his boyfriend’s neck and spun him around. Sam hadn’t topped often since that first night, but tonight was definitely the exception. Seeing his boyfriend go all alpha male like that completely turned him on. 

When Gabriel stuck his ass out, Sam wasted no time in plunging in, his hands on Gabriel’s hips holding him in place as he pounded in hard and fast. Neither were sober enough to spare any thought to the fact that they were in a public bathroom, or the fact that their friends were right outside, or even the fact that they didn’t even have a condom. They just desperately needed to get off. Sam had just reached a hand around to start stroking Gabriel when the bathroom door started to open. Gabriel’s hand was the first to move to slam it back closed, neither of them realizing that the person on the other side had gotten just enough of a glimpse of what was going on to decide that he would just come back later rather than try again to get in. 

Sam’s lips had been trailing over Gabriel’s neck and shoulders, and as he felt himself getting closer his kisses and nips turned to bites and Gabriel shivered and pressed himself back onto Sam harder. “Fuck, yes, Sam. Bite me,” he moaned softly. Sam didn’t have to be told twice, and his hips picked up a frantic pace as he bit Gabriel harder, pulling a choked moan from him before Gabriel spilled over, biting his lip so hard it nearly bled in an effort not to cry out, and Sam was right behind him, filling Gabriel’s ass with his cum for the first time. 

Once they were spent, they both replaced their pants and headed back out to the table to plenty of jokes by the guys. Especially when they noticed the already bruising bite mark on Gabriel’s neck. Over the rest of the night the frequency of the shots interspersed with the large amounts of beer, kept all of them so plastered that nothing else mattered. Sam and Gabriel made it home after one am, leaning on each other the whole way, and just collapsed into bed fully clothed. 

Sam was pretty hung over the next morning, but nothing like Gabriel, so Sam ended up nursing them both through it. “Fuck, I’m too old to be drinking like that anymore,” Gabriel groaned once he was actually well enough to form words. 

Sam just gave a pained chuckle at that as he returned to the bed with his own glass of water after getting them both asprin, and they soon fell back asleep. It was after noon by the next time they woke up, feeling much better and Gabriel was the first to notice something off when he felt the soreness in his ass and the memories of last night came rushing back. “Tell me we did not have sex in a dirty bar bathroom?” he groaned. 

That brought Sam’s memories rushing back too and his eyes widened, “And without protection too,” he added. “Fuck.”

Gabriel could tell that Sam was on the verge of panic, so he went into fix it mode. “Okay, Sam. Just breathe. Relax. It doesn’t have to be the end of the world, right? I would hope you would have said something before now if you weren’t, but you’re clean right?” Gabriel asked. 

“Yeah. I am,” Sam told him, realizing where Gabriel was going with this and feeling his panic starting to subside. 

“Okay, good. So am I. And we’re in a committed relationship. Neither of us are sleeping around, so we’re okay,” Gabriel told him. He had actually been planning to bring that subject up before too much longer, assuming things were still going good anyway, so this just moved up the timetable. 

“Still…we shouldn’t have…not without talking about it first…and definitely not like that…” Sam said worriedly. 

“You’re right, but hey, like I said before. We all do stupid shit when we’re drunk. This doesn’t even make my top ten,” he said with a chuckle. “It could have been a lot worse.”

“Yeah. That’s true,” Sam admitted finally letting it go. 

“Good. So, let’s just enjoy the rest of the day in bed, because I don’t think I’m getting up for anything the rest of the day,” Gabriel said relaxing into Sam’s arms again before his stomach growled. “Okay, except maybe food. Be right back,” Gabriel told him and disappeared for a moment before returning with a large plate of muffins and they propped themselves up against the headboard as they ate, drinking plenty of water with them so as to rehydrate after the previous night. 

It was already starting to get dark out before they pulled themselves out of bed to shower. Sam slid up behind Gabriel, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s stomach and pressing a long line of kisses up his neck, lingering over the bite mark he’d left last night before deciding to test the waters when they were sober. He gave a sharp bite to Gabriel’s neck, above the current mark and Gabriel gave a needy whimper and Sam felt him go from half-hard to fully hard in his hand, and he smirked. So Gabriel had a biting kink huh? He could totally work with that. He ran his other hand down, sliding it between Gabriel’s ass cheeks teasingly before pressing a finger in while biting him again. 

The rest of the shower finished rather quickly and then Gabriel was pulling Sam to the bed, shoving him down more than a little roughly before straddling his lap and dropping on Sam’s cock, delighting in the burn, not seeing the point to bother with condoms anymore. Now that the milk had been spilt, he wanted to feel Sam inside him, completely, when he was sober enough to enjoy it, and holy fuck was it amazing. 

Sam let Gabriel ride him for a while before he sat up, pulling Gabriel close and biting and sucking all over his neck, driving Gabriel higher and higher with every second. Gabriel pulled him into a heated kiss, moaning into it when Sam even bit his lip and he could feel himself getting close already, so he shoved Sam back down, riding him harder and faster, and Sam was desperately close himself. He reached over and took Gabriel’s weeping cock in his hand even as he felt himself coming harder than he ever had before. 

The feeling of Sam spilling himself inside his ass was enough to push Gabriel that last little bit over the edge and he spurted all over Sam’s chest with a keening moan of, “Sam…” 

Once he was spent, he collapsed breathlessly next to Sam, snuggling up against him as he always did after sex. Once he had caught his breath enough to speak he chuckled a quiet, “So I guess you found one of my buttons.”

Sam just grinned. “One of?” he asked leadingly. 

“Uh-uh. No freebies. You have to find them on your own,” Gabriel teased. 

“I look forward to it,” Sam grinned, as he kissed Gabriel deeply. “I love you, Gabriel,” he whispered. 

“And I love you, Sam,” Gabriel said with his own grin, so glad that they were finally here. 

“Can I ask you something?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“Always,” Gabriel told him furrowing his brow and wondering what could be so serious. 

“Where did you get those bruises on your back?” he asked. He wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t noticed last night given his state of mind, but they had been very obvious in the shower tonight. 

Gabriel’s face flushed at that. “It doesn’t matter,” he said quickly. Too quickly. 

“Gabriel…” Sam said firmly, letting him know that wasn’t an acceptable answer. 

Gabriel sighed heavily. He had just wanted to let it go, but it seemed that wasn’t an option. This wasn’t going to go over well at all. “Look, Sam. I get it. You were upset, you were sleepy, you didn’t realize your own strength. I know you didn’t mean…”

“I did that?” Sam asked, horrified. 

“You were trying to make me stop and listen. Trust me, if it was anywhere near an ‘abuse’ type situation, I would have kicked your ass and thrown you out on your ear. It was an accident. They happen, and I’m a big boy. I can take it,” Gabriel assured him. 

“Still…” 

“No. No still about it. It’s not a big deal. Let it go,” Gabriel said, hoping that Sam would do so. 

“Can I at least say, I’m sorry?” Sam asked, not wanting to let it go and feeling horrible about it, but he could see Gabriel’s point at least. 

“That I’ll allow,” Gabriel said with a wry smile. 

“Then I’m sorry, Gabriel. I am so so sorry,” Sam said earnestly. 

Gabriel ran a hand through Sam’s hair as he said, “And you’re forgiven, my love.”


	18. Chapter 18

As was usual on Monday mornings, Sam just barely stirred awake when Gabriel slipped out of bed. He had to be up at five to open the bakery by six. Sam woke up enough for a sleepy kiss before he was back asleep only to wake up himself an hour later to get ready for work. He still stopped by the bakery for breakfast every morning, and the timing ended up being perfect. By the time he came by, Gabriel had the first batch in the cases and the second batch running in the ovens, so he had time to sit down and take a break. 

Once he finished breakfast, he knew it was time to go and face the music and see what kind of crap he would get for calling out on Friday. He’d already warned Gabriel that he would probably be working extra late for most of the week to catch back up, but that once he was caught back up he should be getting off at a semi-reasonable time most days. That was actually why he had managed to get off on Thursday. He was finally caught up on all his accounts. Now he just had to worry about maintenance which should get him down to ten-hour days instead of fourteen. Still not a lot of time for Gabriel, given that Gabriel himself worked twelve-hour days, but it would be better than just a quick hi during the week. 

Thankfully, since Sam hadn’t missed any important meetings and his secretary had rescheduled his less important meetings, he didn’t get into much trouble, but they did make it clear that it wasn’t acceptable for that to happen often. Sam didn’t plan on it happening often anyway, so it wasn’t an issue. It was just the fact that it happened less than a month after he had started that probably looked bad. True to his prediction he was buried in paperwork as soon as he got in and by eight o’clock that night he still had a ton to do. He decided to work as late as he could manage tonight so that he could be back to caught up sooner, but he knew Gabriel would be going to bed before long so he took a short break and pulled out his phone. 

Rather than call Gabriel he started a video chat, now that he had a phone capable of that, and Gabriel answered quickly and Sam grinned at him. “Hey Angel,” he said cheerfully. “I’m still at work, but I wanted to check in and say goodnight at least.”

“Angel?” Gabriel asked amusedly, and Sam just shrugged. “I like it,” he added when he noticed Sam’s blush. “That’s a big stack of paperwork,” he said noticing it over Sam’s shoulder. He knew why Sam had video called instead of just a normal phone call and he couldn’t help but feel grateful for it. It told him that Sam was okay with his insecurities and willing to indulge him within reason. 

“Yeah. I got a little behind again after missing Friday. I’m gonna work as late as I can manage until I get caught up so I can be back on a somewhat normal schedule,” Sam told him. 

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said guiltily, feeling like it was all his fault that Sam was behind now. “Did you get in much trouble for calling out?” 

“Nah. Just a little lecture. Nothing I can’t handle. I said it then and I’ll say now. You’re far more important to me than any job,” Sam told him. “And none of what happened is your fault.”

“If I had listened to you that night…”

“Then I would have insisted on taking Friday off to spend with you anyway,” Sam told him, not completely lying. It would have depended on how far they got in the conversation on Thursday night. But it was still what Gabriel needed to hear. “There’s only one person at fault for all this and it’s neither of us.”

“Yeah, okay. I just hate that you have so much extra work now,” Gabriel told him. 

“It’s fine. I can deal with it,” Sam assured him. “I do miss you though.”

Gabriel smiled warmly at him. “I miss you too, Samshine.”

“How was work?” Sam asked conversationally. 

“Nothing major happened, but apparently I was on a bit of a tear Friday. Everyone was pretty jumpy for a while, so I made the rounds with the apologies,” Gabriel told him guiltily. 

“I’m sure they forgave you. Everyone has bad days from time to time,” Sam assured him. 

“Yeah, they were good about it once they realized I was back to my normal gregarious self,” Gabriel told him. 

“Good. I’m glad it all worked out.” 

“Oh, and I got another wedding cake order today. I’ve got almost a month to plan it before I start baking though.”

“Did you get the Mason’s wedding cake started today like you planned?” 

“Started and finished,” Gabriel said proudly. “They didn’t want anything too extravagant. They picked it up this afternoon right before closing. Why they’re getting married in the middle of the day on a Tuesday I have no idea, but whatever works for them.”

Sam laughed. It seemed rather silly to him too. “Oh, and before I forget, I need a meeting with you sometime in the next few weeks to talk about renewing your vendor contracts,” Sam remembered. He’d meant to mention it this weekend. 

“Okay, yeah. How about mid-afternoon on Wednesday, I can come down,” Gabriel suggested. That was his slowest time at the bakery, and he didn’t have any more major projects for the week. He had forgotten the contract renewals were coming up.

Sam turned and pulled out his calendar. “How about three?” he suggested, seeing that he had an opening there. 

“Perfect,” Gabriel said, glad that he would get some Sam time this week, even if he would have to be professional and talk about business the whole time. It was one thing to take liberties at his job, but he worked for himself. He would have to keep his hands, and his lips, to himself at the law office. It seemed that Sam’s mind was back on work now though so, “Well, I should let you get back to work. I’ll see you for breakfast in the morning. Love you, Samshine.”

“Love you too, Angel,” Sam said blowing him a kiss before he ended the video call and dove back into the paperwork. The process repeated itself the next night and Sam thought he might be able to get away with one more late night before he was all caught up again. The meeting with Gabriel was harder than Sam thought it would be. He was just so used to being able to take Gabriel’s hand or kiss him or run a hand through his hair or any of a hundred other things that he was having trouble not doing so. He caught the pleased smile from Gabriel every time he started to reach out before pulling back, and could tell that Gabriel was having the same difficulty. They managed to get through it though, with a few improvements to the original contracts that would benefit both sides greatly and Gabriel was already glad that he’d switched his account to Sam. 

Thursday, Sam once again got off early, and called Gabriel as he left the office this time, not daring to try and surprise him this time. Gabriel was just closing up the shop and they quickly agreed to meet for dinner, and Sam ended up staying the night at Gabriel’s that night too. That Saturday, before they went out for their ‘active day’, Gabriel made Sam a big breakfast and rather nervously pulled something out of his pocket and slid it across the table. Sam looked down at it and then up at Gabriel. “Is that what I think it is?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“It’s a key to the apartment. I mean, you spend more time here than you do at yours, so I figured it might come in handy one of these days. That way you can come and go as you please…you know…in case you leave anything here while I’m working or something,” Gabriel babbled a bit. 

Sam reached across the table and put a hand over Gabriel’s, stopping him mid-sentence. “Thank you, Gabriel,” he said with a grin. He wasn’t falling for the practical reasons for a second. Sam was either sleeping or at work when Gabriel was at work, so the chances of him being here and needing something during those times were nil. Gabriel was giving him a key because he wanted him to have a key, and Sam was thrilled about it. He didn’t think they were ready to officially move in together yet, but this was a step in the right direction. Hell, half of Sam’s casual clothes had already found their way over here and he even had a drawer, so this was a logical progression.


	19. Chapter 19

After Gabriel’s gesture at breakfast, Sam decided it was a good time to bring up his idea for dinner, “So, I was thinking we could have dinner with Dean tonight?” he suggested hopefully. 

“You mean I finally get to meet the infamous brother?” Gabriel asked with a grin. 

“If you want, yeah,” Sam said. If he’d realized that Gabriel was so eager, he would have brought it up weeks ago. 

“Yeah, definitely. Set it up,” Gabriel told him. 

Sam pulled out his phone and after a few texts back and forth he told Gabriel, “He’ll meet us at O’Malley’s at six.”

“So how much does he know about me?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“Not a whole lot. A lot about us as a couple, but not much about you personally. I wanted to spring the fact that you own his favorite bakery on him when you were there to see his reaction,” Sam told him. 

Gabriel laughed. “I like the way you think, Samsquatch.”

Dinner with Dean started much like Gabriel had expected it to. Dean had stared him down, and Gabriel stared him down right back. Dean had tried to crush his hand, and Gabriel gave as good as he got. There were a few threats exchanged before Dean finally nodded in acceptance and then they got down to just getting to know each other. The first question, as expected, was, “So, Gabriel. What do you do?”

Gabriel resisted the urge to smirk at Sam as he answered nonchalantly, “I own a bakery, actually. You might have heard of it. Heavenly Delights?” 

“Holy crap, seriously?! Sammy, how could you not tell me that your boyfriend owns the best bakery on the planet. Dude, you have got to give me your pie recipe,” Dean said hopefully. 

Gabriel chuckled lightly. “Sorry, Deano. No one gets my recipes. Except maybe Sam someday,” Gabriel said not even realizing what he’d implied until after he’d said it, but before he could worry too much, he felt Sam’s hand squeezing his and looked up to see the loving smile in Sam’s eyes. He smiled back before turning his attention back to Dean. 

Dean had caught the exchange and he thought it was too soon for them to be going there, but since he’d said maybe someday, he would let it go. There was no denying that his brother was smitten, and it seemed the little baker was too. He’d heard about the confrontation with Jo from Walt and Roy, so he was eager to size Gabriel up for himself, and he found himself surprised. Gabriel was so openly friendly and cheerful, but he had proved at the start that he wasn’t going to take any shit and could stand up for himself just fine. Dean would never admit that his hand might be a little sore after the battle of wills he had initiated. He had also come to the conclusion over the course of the meal and follow up drinks that Gabriel would be very unlikely to be the one to start anything but he wouldn’t hesitate to finish it, and might actually be able to do so. All in all, he was very impressed with Gabriel and thought he was good for Sam. He wouldn’t say so in front of Gabriel, of course, but when he got home, he sent a text saying as much to Sam. 

Sam didn’t get the text until much later, being wrapped up with Gabriel at the time it was sent, but when he did, he relayed the contents to his boyfriend who grinned. That brought up the next subject. “So, when do I get to meet your family?” Sam asked hesitantly. 

Gabriel snuggled tighter against Sam’s side at that, trailing his fingers absentmindedly over Sam’s chest and stomach as he considered the request. “They usually have a big fourth of July celebration every year. We could go,” he suggested. 

Sam considered that. A party would be a good way to meet them without the pressure, but he didn’t miss Gabriel’s discomfort with the idea. “Do you usually go?” he asked. 

“I haven’t in a few years,” Gabriel admitted. He didn’t need to say, since Kali for Sam to get the picture. 

“We don’t have to,” Sam told him. “I can meet them some other way.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s probably time for me to suck it up and deal with it. At least this way I’ll have you by my side to help me deal,” Gabriel admitted. 

“Okay. If you’re sure. But you can still change your mind,” Sam accepted. 

It turned out that Gabriel wouldn’t get much chance to change his mind as that Thursday morning, while Sam was still in the bakery eating his breakfast with Gabriel, a tall built man with sandy blonde hair came rushing in looking a little frazzled. Gabriel jumped up from his seat with a worried, “Luke! What’s wrong?” 

Sam’s eyes widened as he realized this was Gabriel’s brother and he couldn’t help but look the man over. He could see Gabriel’s point from before if Luke was typical of his brothers. Not that he would ever imagine Gabriel not being as good as them. Gabriel would always be perfect to him, but Luke was very different. Since he was sitting two feet away he couldn’t help but hear the conversation. “I need a wedding cake,” Luke said frazzled. 

“Okay. Who’s getting married?” Gabriel asked. 

“I am,” he said and Gabriel’s eyes widened. 

“I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone seriously,” Gabriel said surprised. 

“I wasn’t,” Luke admitted, knowing that his brother would figure out what he meant. 

“Oh!” Gabriel realized. “Right. Okay. So when are you doing it?” 

“We’re gonna say the vows and everything at the fourth of July event since it’s already being catered, and everything is set up. I know that you have been steering clear since the crap Ralph pulled, but please come this year? I really want you to be there,” Luke said pleadingly. 

“I was already planning on coming this year, and even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world,” Gabriel assured him. “I’ll make sure the cake is perfect. Do you have any ideas what you want? Or does she?” 

“She doesn’t really care much one way or the other, and I have no idea. I trust you, Gabriel,” Luke told him. 

Gabriel couldn’t help but smile at that. “And I’ll do my best not to let you down,” he said seriously. “So, is there anything else you need help with?”

“Not really. Everything’s already set, for all the festivities. I just need to find a lawyer to draft a pre-nup on zero notice so that’ll be an adventure,” Luke said sounding defeated. He knew plenty of lawyers, but they were all trial lawyers or malpractice lawyers, and even if they would do pre-nups, this short notice was never gonna happen. 

Luke didn’t see the look Gabriel shot Sam, who stood up and said, rather nervously, “Maybe I can help?”

“And you are?” Luke asked, not quite hostily, but not particularly friendly either. 

“Sorry. Luke, this is my boyfriend Sam. He’s a lawyer,” Gabriel jumped in. 

Luke’s face immediately softened. “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m just a little…” he was reaching for the right word. 

He didn’t need it though. “It’s okay. I understand,” Sam told him quickly. 

“So what kind of law do you do?” Luke asked. 

“Business Law,” Sam told him.

“So you deal with contracts and the like?” 

“And he’s a whiz. You should see the magic he worked with my vendor contracts. Changed everything up so we all got a better deal,” Gabriel jumped in with pride. 

“Do you think you could get a prenup done in a week?” Luke asked hopefully. “I’d pay of course. It wouldn’t be a pro-bono thing.”

“Yeah, I can manage,” Sam assured him. It would probably mean pulling some late hours and maybe even putting in a little weekend time, but for Gabriel’s brother, he’d make it work. “Do you think you could come by the office today and we can sit down and go over what you want?” 

“I can come by on my lunch?” Luke suggested, and Sam quickly accepted. It wouldn’t be the first time Sam had a working lunch, nor would it be the last. “Thank you, Gabriel. Sam,” he said as he rushed out to get to his practice before his first appointment, and Gabriel and Sam sat back down. Sam didn’t have much more time before he needed to leave either, but he did need to talk to Gabriel about all that first. 

“So, what was that all about?” Sam asked confused. 

“She’s pregnant,” Gabriel said wryly. “One thing you have to understand about my family is that one of the worst sins possible to my father is to have a baby out of wedlock. Luke may be a rebel in many ways, but he’s not going to risk his inheritance. The second worst sin in my family is divorce, so expect a rather different kind of pre-nup than the norm.”

“Still. Getting married just because of a baby…” Sam curled his nose at the thought, before he started trying to backtrack, not wanting to seem judgmental, but Gabriel cut him off. 

“It’s okay, Sam. I agree with you for the most part. If it were me, I’d probably take the risk of losing my inheritance, but Luke has always been very concerned with our father’s acceptance. He’ll take the hit and make the best of it,” Gabriel told him. 

“I can’t help but wonder how he talked her into it, though,” Sam said thoughtfully. 

Gabriel just laughed. “That’s an easy one. Money.” Sam just shuddered at the thought. Marrying someone for money was even worse than marrying them just because there was a baby. He supposed it could have been worse though. Luke could have just tried to talk her into getting rid of the baby or paid her off to keep them out of his life and secret. When he looked at it that way, he could almost respect Luke for his decision. 

“Well, I should get going. I have a lot of work to do today,” Sam told him, giving him a short kiss before he left.


	20. Chapter 20

Sam had let his secretary know that he was expecting an unscheduled appointment around lunchtime, so there was no problem with her letting Luke into the meeting room he had to the side of his office. It was a small one, unlike the bigger offices that connected to whole conference tables. Sam joined Luke with a small folder outlining a standard pre-nup for them to modify to suit his needs. Once Luke was sitting down and the pleasantries had been exchanged, Sam got to work. “So is there anything specifically that you’re looking for?” 

“Honestly, I’ve had so little time to think about this that I haven’t gotten farther than making sure she and the baby are taken care of without her being able to clean me out,” Luke said sheepishly. “I’m guessing Gabriel told you about the baby.”

“Yeah. He did,” Sam said with a nod. “And I think you’re handling it pretty well for such short notice,” Sam told him and Luke gave him a grateful nod. “Okay so we can start there. Making sure she and the baby are taken care of. The easiest part will probably be setting up a trust fund for the child, assuming that’s the route you’re taking…”

“Yeah. I was thinking fifty million, ten percent on acceptance into college full amount when he graduates,” Luke told him. 

“And if he doesn’t go to college?” Sam asked. 

“Then nothing until he’s twenty-five,” Luke said, thinking a second before adding, “And then only ten percent total.” No way was he giving a deadbeat access to fifty million dollars, but even with five he would still be well taken care of assuming he was halfway responsible and if he wasn’t then it wasn’t Luke’s problem anymore. 

“Fair enough,” Sam told him making note of that. “Would that setup include any future children as well?” Luke nodded and Sam was glad of that. That would make the wording so much easier. “Okay, now on to the more complicated part. The mother…what’s her name?” 

“Kelly,” Luke told him. “Kelly Kline. Soon to be Shurley, I suppose. Assuming she changes her name. We haven’t really talked about that,” Luke said getting off on a tangent before bringing himself back to task. “Anyway, I was thinking at least ten million no matter when she leaves and maybe going up over time? Like an extra million per year we’re married?” he suggested. “She deserves a little something extra for putting up with me,” he joked. 

Sam laughed as he made note of that. “All that is easily doable. Standard fidelity clause?” Sam asked. 

“No,” Luke said, and Sam looked up at him surprised. “We aren’t marrying for love. I won’t begrudge her any lovers as long as she allows me the same courtesy and it’s all kept very discreet. Is there a way to change the fidelity clause so that it only comes into effect if the affair becomes public? And still allow her to keep the minimum ten million if it does? Depending on the circumstances, I’d probably give her the rest anyway, but I’d like to keep that loophole just in case she’s a bitch about it, you know?” 

“Yeah, I get that,” Sam told him, his respect for Luke growing by the minute. The idea of having affairs while you were married didn’t really sit right with him, but under the circumstances he was doing the best he could to take care of not only the baby, but her too, and that was worth respecting. “And there’s pretty much nothing impossible when it comes to contracts,” Sam joked. “We will need to clarify the definition of public in this case though,” he added. 

“If it hits the media in any way,” Luke told him. “I don’t care if people talk, but if I see a story on it in the folds of a magazine or on a talk show or something, that’s too far.” 

“Fair enough. Question though? If it’s none of my business feel free to tell me, but Gabriel said something about your father not accepting divorce?” Sam asked curiously. 

“He would make an exception for a public affair. He wouldn’t be happy about it, and if I’m the one to be so indiscreet, it would probably still lose me my inheritance, but he would accept my divorcing her in that situation,” Luke told him. 

“Okay. That makes sense. Sorry for being nosy,” Sam said sheepishly. 

“No, it’s okay. It’s natural to be curious about the family you might be marrying into one day,” Luke told him, fishing for information of his own. 

Sam choked a bit at that statement. “I don’t know if I’d go that far, just yet. Gabriel and I have only been together for about six weeks.”

“You said yet. Which means it’s still a possibility?” he was trying to get a read on just how serious Sam was about his brother. After Kali, the last thing he wanted was for Gabriel to get his heart broken again. 

“Well, yeah. I mean, it’s a possibility sure. I would like for it to go that way eventually,” Sam said squirming a bit at the idea. 

“Good enough,” Luke said acceptingly. He had all he needed. Sam was in this for the long haul, so he wasn’t playing games, and his reactions said all they needed to in order to prove that he wasn’t after Gabriel’s money. If he had been, he would have jumped on the idea of marriage immediately. 

That was when Sam realized that he’d passed some kind of test, but he had no idea how or even what he was being tested on, so he dropped it for now and got back to business. They went over a few more details of the contract, and Sam triple checked his list to make sure there was nothing they’d overlooked. There was a little bit of friendly banter in there as well, but for the most part it stayed professional, and when Luke left an hour later, Sam promised to have it ready for them to look over by Wednesday. The wedding was on the following Saturday, so he would have a few days to make any additional changes if he needed to. 

Sam had already told Gabriel he’d probably be working late tonight with this additional job, so he wasn’t expecting more than what had become their usual video call around eight before Gabriel went to bed. He didn’t say anything about the conversation with Luke other than that he was working on it. They would talk a little more about it on their date night tomorrow. 

Once they were seated at the restaurant, Sam was quick to bring up the subject. It had been eating at him since it happened. Not bothering him, per se, but wondering what the heck it had been about was driving him nuts and he hoped that Gabriel would have some insights for him. “So, your brother implied that you and I would be getting married at some point…” he said leadingly. 

Gabriel just burst into laughter at that before sobering a bit at the hurt look on Sam’s face. “I’m sorry…it’s not that…I know it was probably a rather…uncomfortable conversation…it’s just…that’s so Luke…all the tact of a bull in a china shop…what’d you say?” Gabriel asked as he got his laughter under control. 

“I told him we’d only been together for six weeks and it was a little too soon to be considering something like that yet, and then he was asking if it was a possibility though,” Sam blushed a bit and hesitated on telling Gabriel the rest. 

“And you said?” Gabriel asked, willing his heartbeat to slow down. He knew it was too soon to be discussing the idea seriously, but the possibilities was okay. Especially if Sam had already discussed it with his brother. He wouldn’t ask for more than knowing what Sam told Luke though. 

“Well, I said, yeah. It’s a possibility. Someday,” Sam said biting his lip, and only relaxing when Gabriel reached across the table and took his hand reassuringly. 

“And you feel like you passed some kind of test but have no idea what it was,” Gabriel guessed, knowing his brother well, and figuring that was the only reason Sam would bring it up. He was proved right when Sam nodded. “He was making sure of your intentions towards me. If you were totally against the idea of marrying me, it would mean you were just stringing me along for your own amusement. If you jumped at the opportunity it would mean you were after me for my money. Taking the middle road like you did told him that you were serious about me and really cared.”

“Oh. That makes sense,” Sam said with a nod. Now that Gabriel had laid it out like that, it seemed rather obvious. 

“But it doesn’t matter because we’re nowhere near that point yet anyway,” Gabriel said trying to lift the suddenly stifling atmosphere. Sam gave him a grateful look as they changed the subject and were right back to the same easy interaction they’d always had.


	21. Chapter 21

It was the following Tuesday before Sam actually used the key that Gabriel had given him, though he was rather nervous about it. He hoped what he was doing was okay, as he slipped into the apartment at almost midnight, making his way for the bedroom, stripping down to his boxers and climbing into bed. He was trying not to wake Gabriel, but that didn’t go so well. No sooner than his arms closed around his boyfriend, Gabriel murmured, “Sam?” turning to cuddle into him. 

“Sorry. I just had a really bad day and just needed…” Sam trailed off nervously. 

“S’okay, Samshine. You’re always welcome,” Gabriel said tiredly. “You want to talk about it?” 

“No. It’s okay. Go back to sleep, Angel. I just need to hold you for a while, if that’s okay,” Sam told him. 

“Always,” Gabriel mumbled, as he drifted back to sleep. Sam just took a deep relieved breath and leaned his head against Gabriel’s, closing his eyes. Relieved both because Gabriel was okay with him being here unscheduled, and because having Gabriel in his arms was just allowing the stress to roll off of him and it wasn’t long before he was drifting off to sleep too. He didn’t even feel Gabriel slipping out of bed in the morning to get ready for work, or the soft kiss that Gabriel pressed to his lips before he left. Nor did he notice Gabriel resetting the alarm clock for him, but when it went off, he felt much better rested than he usually did in the middle of the week, and smiled as he realized why that was, and it had a whole lot to do with where he was. Still, he shouldn’t do this too often. 

He got up and headed back to his apartment to throw on a new suit, before making his way to the bakery. Gabriel quickly sat down with him, coffee and muffins in hand, as he said, “How you feeling this morning?” 

“Much better. Sorry for waking you last night.”

“It’s fine, Samshine. Always. Like I said, you’re always welcome. That’s why you have a key,” Gabriel told him gently. 

“Speaking of,” Sam said pulling something out of his own pocket. He’d had it made a couple days ago, but hadn’t had a chance to give it to Gabriel yet. “I know you don’t spend a lot of time at my place, but just in case you ever need anything…” 

“Thank you, Sam,” Gabriel said, beaming as he took the offered key like it was made of gold. It really was nothing more than a gesture, given the fact that they always stayed at Gabriel’s place, but it was a gesture that was very much appreciated. It spoke of a level of trust that warmed Gabriel greatly. “So, do you want to talk about yesterday?” he asked. 

“It wasn’t really any one bad thing that happened,” Sam told him. “It did start with a very difficult meeting with a business owner that was unhappy with just about everything I did and suggested, and was rather rude about showing it, and I think it was the stress from that causing everything else to just pile on but by the time I left, much later than I wanted to given my state of mind causing everything to take even longer, I was just so frazzled.”

“Yeah, I get that. We all have those days sometimes,” Gabriel told him. “I’m glad I could help, even if it was just by being a warm body,” he said with a chuckle, pulling one from Sam too. 

“Well, you did. Thanks, Gabe,” Sam said cheerfully. “So, I’m meeting your brother at lunchtime today to go over the final prenup.”

“Oh, you got it finished?” Gabriel asked. 

“Mostly. That’s why I stayed so late last night. Just gotta give it one more read through and maybe dot a few Is and cross some Ts before I hand it over,” Sam told him. 

“That’s good. I finally nailed down a design for his cake, but I won’t be starting it until tomorrow, so it doesn’t go stale before the wedding.”

“So, you’re going all out on it huh?” Sam asked with a laugh, knowing Gabriel only took two days on the most extravagant cakes. 

“Damn right,” Gabriel joked. “No matter the circumstances of the wedding, he’s still my brother, and he’s gonna have the best damn cake in creation.” 

After a little more chatter about their upcoming day, Sam headed out to work. The meeting with Luke went well. He said the prenup looked perfect to him. He’d take it to her tonight and assuming she was good with it too, he’d bring Sam a signed and notarized copy on his lunch break tomorrow. When he returned with it, he also handed Sam a check for his services and Sam’s eyes went wide when he saw the amount. He’d never seen so much money in his life. “This is too much,” he protested. 

“Nonsense. You’ve potentially saved me hundreds of millions of dollars. I think it’s just the right amount,” Luke told him. “I even consulted with some lawyer friends of mine to make sure.” He didn’t mention that they had been high end trial attorneys who had more money than god, and his actual question had been more like ‘how much would you have charged me for this’, but he really was grateful to Sam for putting so much work in for him at the last minute. Gabriel had told him about how Sam was burning the midnight oil to get it done, not to mention, he liked Sam, and liked him for Gabriel. Not to mention he had caught the extra loopholes that Sam had put in for his benefit, should he ever choose to take advantage of them. 

“But this is...”

“You’ve earned it, kid. Just take it,” Luke said wryly, though he was glad of the reaction. It was just more proof that he wasn’t after Gabriel for his money. 

“I…th-thank you,” Sam said as he put the check for two hundred thousand dollars in his wallet. 

“Will you be coming with Gabriel this weekend?” Luke asked. 

“Yeah. He already invited me,” Sam told him. 

“Good. I’ll see you then,” Luke said shaking his hand warmly as he left. 

Now that all his ‘extra’ work was done, Sam was able to get out by seven that night and called Gabriel and they had a very long conversation before Gabriel went to bed and Sam watched a movie before heading that way himself. Their date night the next night was mostly spent with Gabriel trying to calm Sam’s jitters by telling him more about the family and who he would be meeting the next day, including his niece and nephew, Michael’s kids. He was the only one in the family who had kids currently, not counting the one Luke had on the way. 

The next morning, Gabriel went in early, despite it being a Saturday, to put the finishing touches on the cake and wrap it up for transport. Sam walked over to meet him once he woke up, and Gabriel invited him into the back for the first time to see the cake before he wrapped it up. “Holy crap!” Sam said wide-eyed once he got a look at it. “That’s incredible!” Gabriel just preened as he started putting the stabilizers around it to keep it from moving around. Sam walked all the way around the five-tiered monstrosity, trying to take in all the tiny details around it. “That should be in a museum, not eaten,” Sam said in awe, pulling a chuckle from Gabriel. It was one thing seeing pictures of these cakes, but to see it in person, it was even grander, and Sam was even more impressed than ever with Gabriel’s talent. 

Once it was covered, Gabriel tossed Sam a set of keys. “You drive my car. I’ll be taking the bakery truck.” Obviously that cake wouldn’t fit in the sleek little Ferrari. 

“You’re letting me drive the Scuderia?” Sam asked, shocked nearly speechless for the second time that morning. 

“Of course,” Gabriel said as though it should be obvious. “There’s only one seat in the bakery truck, and if I show up at one of these family things without the car that my dad so ‘generously’ bought me, I’d never hear the end of it, and since I can’t spare one of the kids to drive the truck today, I’m gonna have to do it. I do have someone coming to pick it up later though, so we can drive back together.”

“But…” Sam stammered. 

“Come on. You can follow me,” Gabriel said, intentionally oblivious to Sam’s predicament, leaving Sam no choice but to hurry up or he would get lost.


	22. Chapter 22

As Gabriel was pulling the cake out of the bakery truck, while Sam was still gaping at the huge mansion, one of the servants rushed out to help Gabriel with the cake, but he just waved her off. “I got it. You can grab the doors for me though.” As they walked into the entrance hall, Sam right on Gabriel’s heels, trying to stop staring, he heard Gabriel say, “Thanks Marnie.” They were led through a spacious house and out into an area that didn’t even qualify as a yard. A courtyard maybe. It was huge and there were long tables set up all around the edges and smaller round tables dotting the middle. Gabriel quickly spotted the dessert table that already had a large open spot in the middle and made his way over there. 

No sooner than he got the cake set down, there were twin cries of, “Uncle Gabe! Uncle Gabe!” and Gabriel barely managed to turn before getting bowled over by two little missiles. He greeted them warmly, ruffling their hair and commenting on how big they were getting before he turned to Sam. “Sam this is my nephew Caspian and my niece Analise,” he said cheerfully. 

Sam beamed down at the dark-haired boy and his red-headed little sister. “It’s wonderful to meet you both.”

“You’re really tall,” Analise said, wide-eyed. “Are you a giant?” 

Sam laughed but Gabriel beat him to an answer. “No. He’s a Samsquatch,” he joked. “He’s kind of a gentle giant.”

“Like the jolly green giant?” she asked. 

“Yep. Cept he’s not green…yet,” Gabriel said conspiratorily while looking at Sam mischievously, and Sam just laughed harder. 

“Please don’t make me green?” he asked both co-conspirators hopefully, not doubting that they could find a way if they really wanted to. 

“I’ll think about it,” Analise said giggling as she ran away. 

“Are you uncle Gabe’s boyfriend?” Caspian asked crossing his arms like he wasn’t sure what to think of that. 

“I am,” Sam told him, raising an eyebrow and waiting for whatever reaction was coming. 

“You better be nice to him or I’m gonna make my dad beat you up,” Caspian said, and this time it was Gabriel laughing. 

“I promise, I’ll always be nice to him,” Sam told the boy indulgently. 

“Good,” Caspian said with a nod before he ran off to join his sister. 

“Your first threat from the ten-year-old,” Gabriel teased, giving Sam a short kiss before turning to uncover the cake and get it on the table. 

As he was getting it placed, another older man walked up to them and looked at the cake. “The cake is very nice, Gabriel. Your mother would be proud,” he said before walking off without another word. 

Gabriel just sighed wearily. “And that was my father. I’ll make sure you meet him properly later,” he promised. 

“I’m sure he’s really busy and has a lot on his mind right now,” Sam said, placing a comforting hand on Gabriel’s back, not missing the complete dismissal or the fact that he hadn’t even looked at Gabriel. 

“Nah, he’s always like that. It doesn’t matter,” Gabriel said perking up. When Sam glanced around to see who all was here already, he noticed the tall dark-haired man watching with a frown that flickered between them and Gabriel’s father. When he noticed Sam looking at him, he walked over. 

“I’m Michael,” he said holding out his hand. “You must be Sam. Luke told me about you.”

Sam nodded. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said genially, wondering how this particular meeting was going to go. 

“Sorry about Dad. I told him to play nice today, but he doesn’t listen so well,” Michael said regretfully. Now the frown was explained, and Sam felt a lot better that it wasn’t directed at him. “I wish I could stay and chat but there’s still a lot to get set up. I hope we have time to talk more later.”

“I look forward to it,” Sam said genially. 

Michael turned to Gabriel, and gave him a light hug. “I’m glad you came, Gabe. And the cake looks amazing.”

“Thanks, Mikey,” Gabriel said with a grin. 

Once he was finished setting the cake up, they turned to go mingle and nearly ran straight into another man, slightly shorter than Michael and Luke, but with the same dark hair as Michael, and the guy gave a grin, that creeped Sam out a bit for no real reason he could identify. “So, this is the new boyfriend huh?” 

“Ralph,” Gabriel ground out a greeting, clearly trying very hard to be civil. 

“He’s cute,” Ralph said with a smirk, looking Sam up and down. 

“And not interested,” Sam said coldly, hating the way Ralph was treating his brother, and having no intention of even trying to be nice given the way he was clearly checking him out. Sam put his arm around Gabriel and started leading him away. Once they had some distance, Sam turned to look at Gabriel, taking his shaking hands and rubbing them softly. “Is that the first time you’ve seen him since that night?” he asked gently. Gabriel had mentioned avoiding any family gatherings that he might be at since then, so Sam thought it probably was. Gabriel just nodded at the question. “Well, I don’t like him. Even without all that, I can already tell he’s an ass.”

Gabriel laughed tightly. “Yeah. He is.”

They walked around, introducing Sam to a few more people that weren’t related, just family friends, but no one else of note was here yet. They’d been early to bring the cake and get it set up. They were going to do the wedding first and then the party and it was about half an hour before it started when Sam took a break to use the bathroom, only to come out and find himself face to face with Ralph. “Hi Sam,” he said smoothly, blocking Sam’s path. Sam just raised an eyebrow at him, unable to tell whether his position was intentional or not, so not planning to push past him and risk a scene just yet. “I get why you said what you did in front of my baby brother, but I figure now that we’re alone…” he said suggestively reaching out a hand to grab Sam’s ass only to whimper in pain as it was caught in Sam’s tight grip. 

“If you think for one second that I would ever do something like that to Gabriel, then you’re fucking nuts, and if you EVER put a hand on me, I will break it, no matter where we are or who is around. You got me?” Sam hissed. 

“Everything okay here?” Sam heard a tight voice ask and turned to see Michael standing there staring at the scene with cold eyes. 

Sam squeezed Ralph’s hand a little tighter, making him squirm a bit at the renewed pain. “I don’t know. Are we, Ralph?” Sam asked coldly. 

“We’re good,” Ralph said with a strained voice trying not to cry out and Sam let him go. Ralph rushed into the bathroom, massaging his hand, and Sam turned to go back to the party, but was stopped by Michael’s hand on his arm. 

“I don’t know what that was, but Ralph knows what I will do to him if he ever pulls another Kali on Gabriel, and this is your warning. You hurt him, I will destroy you,” Michael said seriously, not even giving Sam a chance to respond before he turned and disappeared around the corner. 

Sam resolved to search out Michael later to clear that up. It seemed he would have an uphill battle to climb with the whole family. Gabriel was worth it though. He just couldn’t stand the fact that Gabriel’s favorite brother thought he was capable of such a thing. He knew now wasn’t the time though. It was almost time for the wedding to start. There would be time after. Sam returned and slid into the seat next to Gabriel just as Luke came out talking to the officiant in a nice tux, Michael slipping into place at his side. “Everything okay?” Gabriel asked, noticing that Sam seemed a little off. 

Right about that time the music started, Sam just whispered, “I’ll tell you later,” before they turned their attention to the ceremony. 

It was a beautiful ceremony, especially for being last minute, and the bride looked beautiful in her generic, off the rack, wedding dress, and everything went like clockwork. Once it was over, Luke made a beeline straight for Gabriel, pulling him into a hug. “Thanks for coming, Gabby,” he said cheerfully. “The cake is incredible. I couldn’t have asked for better. Thanks so much.”

“Anytime, Luci,” Gabriel teased him back for the nickname. “I had fun with it. It’s not every day you get to design your brother’s wedding cake.”

“This is Kelly,” Luke introduced his new wife. “Kelly, this is my youngest brother Gabriel, and his boyfriend, Sam.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said with a warm smile before they walked off to make the rounds. 

“Okay, now what happened?” Gabriel turned to Sam. 

“Nothing major. Ralph cornered me outside the bathroom and made a move. I nearly broke his hand and told him where to shove it and then Michael walked in and got the wrong idea,” Sam told him. He hated having to tell Gabriel about yet another attempted betrayal by his brother, but he knew that hiding it would just cause more trouble in the long run. Gabriel’s eyes flashed with anger and he turned to look for Ralph, but Sam grabbed his shoulders. “If you want to punch his lights out, I’m not going to stop you, but do you really want to do it here and now?” Sam asked, trying to soothe his ruffled feathers. 

Gabriel seemed to be fighting with himself in response to that question, before he deflated and said, “No. I don’t,” he said. He had every intention of doing so before they left, but it could wait until the end of the night. He wouldn’t ruin the whole party. If it hadn’t been for Luke’s wedding being a part of it, he might not care, but he wasn’t going to ruin his brother’s big day for anything.


	23. Chapter 23

After what Ralph had tried, Gabriel pretty much stayed glued to Sam’s side the whole day. They’d played with the kids for a little while, chatted with quite a few people, taking a long time with Luke and Kelly, before Sam noticed that Michael didn’t seem busy. He leaned over and whispered in Gabriel’s ear, “I’m gonna go try and clear things up with Michael, okay?” Gabriel looked over to where Michael was standing by himself just watching everything and nodded at Sam. Sam kissed Gabriel’s temple with a whispered, “Love you,” before he walked off. 

He walked over to Michael, and the eldest brother raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. “I want to explain what you saw back there,” Sam told him. 

“What I saw was you and Ralph standing very close together and holding hands,” Michael said challengingly. 

“I can see how it might have looked that way,” Sam admitted. “We were standing close together because he initiated that and when he tried to grab me, I wasn’t holding his hand. I was threatening to break it,” Sam told him. “I know what happened between Ralph and Kali and I think it’s sick. I would NEVER hurt Gabriel like that, and I pretty much despise Ralph.”

Michael narrowed his eyes at Sam, as if trying to read him before he nodded, and his features softened considerably. “That would explain why Ralph has been favoring his left hand all afternoon,” he said with a smirk. 

“Incidentally, you might want to keep an eye on Gabriel and Ralph. I talked him into waiting to make a scene, but I don’t think he’s going to let it go for long,” Sam warned him. 

“I’m not going to stop a thing Gabriel tries to do to him. No matter the scene it would cause, though I do hope he at least waits until the end of the night and I’m there to see it,” Michael told him. “You told Gabriel about what happened?” he asked surprised. 

“Of course. Hiding it would just make matters worse if and when he eventually found out. I considered waiting until after the party to tell him, but didn’t want to chance it coming up before then,” Sam explained. 

“That’s reasonable. I can’t imagine what Gabriel would have thought if he’d found out on his own, or worse, if Ralph told him and put his own spin on it,” Michael said giving Sam a respectful nod. It boded well for their relationship and said a lot about Sam’s character that he would be so open about it. “I apologize for jumping to conclusions.”

“It’s fine. I might have in your position too,” Sam told him. “At least you let me explain, and that’s what matters. I just wish I knew why Ralph was such a jerk to Gabriel.”

Michael sighed sadly. “That, is a long story.” When Sam looked at him curiously, Michael took that to mean that he wanted to hear it. “There are two basic reasons. First, he and Gabriel are so close in age, and Gabriel is the baby which means that Gabriel always took a lot of attention that Ralph always thought he deserved, so he got into this thing of always wanting anything Gabriel had for himself, and just never outgrew it. The main reason he’s so cold about it, is because he blames Gabriel for the fact that he never knew his mother.”

Sam sucked in a sharp breath at that. “Gabriel never talks about her,” he said. “How could Ralph blame him for it?” 

“She died in childbirth with Gabriel,” Michael said and when Sam opened his mouth to say something, Michael cut him off. “And I know it’s not his fault. As does anyone with any amount of sense, but Ralph has never been willing to let it go, and everything that’s happened since then just piles it on.”

“Does he actually tell Gabriel that? Does Gabriel know…”

“Ralph knows that if he ever actually came out and said it I would knock his teeth in, as he learned the one time he actually did say it when he was six, and Gabriel was five. Gabriel cried for days, and I nearly strangled Ralph for it. As far as I know, it’s never been mentioned since,” Michael told him. 

Sam nodded, taking in the family dynamics with fresh eyes. “Tell me that’s not why your dad…”

Michael got a pained look on his face, but said, “No. Dad’s issue with Gabriel is completely different. He doesn’t blame him at all. He blames himself more than he blames Gabriel. It’s just that Gabriel is so much like Mom. He even looks just like her. It’s hard for Dad to be around him, and that’s why he pushes him away.” Michael got a sad smile, and added, “And why I keep him close.”

“You remember her?” Sam guessed, not sure how old Michael had been when it happened. 

“I was ten when Gabriel was born. Luke was nine. Ralph was almost one,” Michael told him. “Luke and I remember her well, and that’s how we see so much of Mom in him, and not just in his looks. He got his love of baking from her too. In fact, a lot of the recipes he uses at the bakery were hers. I think it’s the only time I’ve seen him really happy with a gift from Dad is when he gave him her recipe box when he went off to culinary school.”

Sam couldn’t help but smile at that. Now he knew why Gabriel guarded his recipes so jealously. He would guess that those were the recipes he didn’t even give his employees, only baking them himself. “Does he know that’s why his dad pushes him away?” Sam asked. 

“Probably not,” Michael said. “It would just hurt him to know that.”

“More than it hurts him to think that his dad hates him for no reason?” Sam asked pointedly and Michael blanched. 

“You have a point. I’ll talk to him soon,” Michael said, making it clear that he was the one to have that conversation and Sam wasn’t to mention it beforehand. 

Sam got the picture and nodded. “I won’t say a word,” he promised. 

Michael smiled at him. “Another thing he got from her was her easy-going nature and persistent joy and love of life. I think you’re good for him,” he said, putting a hand on Sam’s shoulder. 

“He’s good for me,” Sam said with a loving smile, turning to look at Gabriel, who caught his eye a moment later and walked over, sliding up to Sam’s side, putting an arm around his waist, and Sam pulled him close, kissing the side of his head. 

“All good now?” he asked cheerfully. 

“Yep. Misunderstanding is all cleared up,” Sam told him. 

“Good,” Gabriel said, lifting up to press a quick kiss to Sam’s lips. “Don’t be too much longer. We’ll be cutting the cake soon.” He said as he walked off, to find Luke and Kelly. 

“You love him,” Michael guessed as Sam watched Gabriel walk off. 

“I do. Very much,” Sam said, dragging his eyes slowly back to Michael. 

“Good. It goes without saying that he has some issues. Don’t let them tear you apart,” Michael advised. 

“I won’t. I have my own share of issues,” Sam said wryly. “And we’ve already had a couple incidents.”

“Like what?” Michael asked curiously as a question to both statements.   
Sam decided to explain the first statement first, in broad terms of course, before tackling the second. “My last boyfriend was extremely possessive and controlling. I finally left him when he tried to kill me for talking to a friend from class outside the class building,” Sam told him. 

Michael gave him a sympathetic smile, “Well at least you never have to worry about something like that from Gabriel,” he said wanting to assure Sam of such. 

“I know,” Sam said with a smile, glancing over at Gabriel, who was now in what seemed to be a deep conversation with Luke. “The biggest issue we had so far is when one of my friends since childhood, set me up to make it look like we’d been having an affair. She apparently wanted me for herself, and wanted to make Gabriel dump me. It took a couple days, but I finally got Gabriel to hear me out and let me explain.”

“How did she set you up?” Michael asked worriedly.

“Well, Luke told you I’m a lawyer, right?” Michael nodded. “So, I work a lot of long hours. She had apparently been waiting for me on the corner outside the bakery most nights before she finally got her chance. I got off early and came home to surprise Gabe, but she ambushed me and kept me talking until Gabriel came out of the bakery before she kissed me, and I froze.”

“You froze, or you reacted instinctively?” Michael asked, wondering exactly what Gabriel would have seen, but not really blaming Sam if he’d reacted. It would be a common knee-jerk response. 

“I froze. I was standing there like a statue until I noticed Gabe standing there watching and it snapped me out of it and I shoved her away. I think that’s a big part of the reason he finally believed me. Once he calmed down, he thought back on it and saw my reaction. Well that and the intervention of one of my friends,” Sam told him the whole story. 

“But you made it through that, no doubt stronger than ever,” Michael said feeling even better about the relationship between this man and his baby brother. Sam would fight for Gabriel, issues and all, and he had no doubt that Gabriel would do the same.


	24. Chapter 24

They were just getting ready to rejoin the party for the cutting of the cake, when Michael suddenly caught sight of someone and waved them over. “Sam, this is my wife Abby. This is Gabriel’s boyfriend Sam,” Michael introduced. 

Sam smiled at the tall beautiful redhead at Michael’s side. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said warmly, and she returned the sentiment. He’d caught sight of her and greeted her over the course of the day, but hadn’t actually had a chance to be introduced. She and Michael had both been very busy playing hosts for the day. Now that the formalities were just about over, they should have more time to mingle for the rest of the day though. 

Sam walked over and slid up behind Gabriel, wrapping his arms around Gabriel’s stomach, and resting his chin on his boyfriend’s head, smiling at Luke as he did so. Both brothers noticed the way Gabriel’s face lit up at the attention from Sam and smiled and nodded at each other, communicating their acceptance in a way that only brothers could. “Seems a shame to cut into such a masterpiece,” Sam said looking at the cake and completely missing the exchange between Michael and Luke. 

Michael chuckled and clapped Sam on the back. “That it does. Baby brother definitely has some talent there.”

“Where is that wife of mine,” Luke said looking around for her. She was the one who mentioned cutting the cake and then she disappeared. Finally, he spotted her coming out of the house, and she gave him a sheepish shrug which he took to mean that she’d had to use the bathroom…again. 

After the initial cut, where the bride and groom fed each other, Gabriel took to dishing out the cake. Judging by the wistful looks on Luke and Michael’s face and the way their father rushed off after taking his piece, Sam guessed that the wedding cake was one of his mother’s recipes. Michael sighed heavily, at their father’s reaction, knowing exactly what he saw with Gabriel standing there dishing out that particular cake with a smile. Still, Sam was here to meet the family and it was clear that he was going to have to take matters into his own hands. “Hey, Gabby. I’m stealing your man away for a bit,” he said slinging his arm around Gabriel’s shoulders and giving him something halfway between a hug and a headlock. 

“Long as you give him back,” Gabriel joked. The same comment from Ralph would have gotten a far different reaction, but Gabriel trusted Michael, and he and Sam seemed to have taken well to each other. 

Michael took Sam’s arm, leading him over to where their father was standing. “Dad, this is Sam. Gabriel’s boyfriend,” Michael said firmly giving his father a look that clearly meant, ‘be polite’. 

Sam held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Shurley,” he said only betraying a bit of his nerves. 

“Chuck,” he said as he shook the offered hand. “Glad to meet you, Sam.” He glanced at Michael who was still giving him the look, so he turned back to Sam. “Gabriel seems happy. I’m guessing I have you to thank for that.”

“I do my best,” Sam said with a smile, finally starting to relax. With his new understanding of the distant relationship between father and son, that statement meant a lot. 

“Thank you,” Chuck said sincerely. “How long have you been together?” he asked curiously. 

“Almost two months,” Sam told him.

Chuck just nodded. Too soon for the welcome to the family talk, and he assumed that Michael and Luke had already taken care of the ‘hurt him and I’ll kill you’ conversations, so he would skip that. He didn’t want to risk scaring the kid off, after all. “So, what do you do, Sam?” he asked, trying to make conversation. 

“I’m a lawyer. Business law,” Sam told him. 

“Long hours then. How does Gabriel handle that?” Chuck asked curiously. 

Part of Sam wanted to snap that he should talk to his son himself if he wanted to know so badly, but he held his tongue and answered the question. “Gabriel works twelve-hour days himself, so we don’t get much time together during the week, but we both make sure to take weekends off to spend together, even if it means I have to work late during the week to keep up,” Sam told him. 

“Good. It’s good that you make time for each other. His bakery is doing well then?” he asked, rather at a loss for topics to discuss. 

This time Michael was the one to cut in, “Gabriel could probably answer that question better than Sam,” he said pointedly. 

“Right. Of course,” Chuck said sheepishly, glancing over to his youngest son, and letting a slight smile flit across his face before he turned away. “I should go make sure the bar isn’t running low,” he said. “It was nice meeting you Sam,” he added as an afterthought as he made his escape. 

Michael just shook his head. “Sorry. I tried.”

“It’s okay. I know you did. And thanks. I’d been looking for a chance to meet him at least,” Sam told him, grateful for what he’d been able to do as they made their way back over to Gabriel. The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, and Sam and Gabriel even stopped to play catch with the kids for a while before Gabriel was called over to help set up the fireworks. It was apparently a family tradition for all the boys to help. Gabriel told Sam to keep playing as he headed over. It wasn’t long after, when the first of the fireworks started going off, that Sam’s attention was drawn to another type of fireworks. 

 

Gabriel had been steering clear of Ralph all day, but he hadn’t failed to notice the way he checked Sam out at every opportunity and he could see the scheming in his eyes. He trusted Sam about as much as he was capable of trusting anyone these days, but he didn’t think that deep-seeded doubt would ever leave him completely. At least not where Ralph was concerned. And probably Jo now too. He absentmindedly wondered how many more people would be added to that list, before he just figured that was the price he paid for dating someone so attractive. Still, Ralph was just about on his last nerve. 

The final straw came just as the fireworks were getting ready to start. Ralph had came up next to Gabriel, leering at Sam as he bent to pick up the ball to toss to one of the kids. “He does have such a nice ass. I bet it feels as good as it looks,” he taunted, just as the first of the fireworks went off. Gabriel turned and punched him in the nose, delighting in the crack he both heard and felt as the blood poured down Ralph’s face. “Why you little…” was all he got out before he tackled Gabriel to the ground. 

Sam was drawn to the disturbance when Caspian, in the vein of ten-year-old boys the world over, yelled, “Fight!” and rushed over to watch. Sam followed him and was just about to jump in, when Michael and Luke each grabbed one of his arms. 

“Let him handle this one himself,” Michael told him softly, knowing that this had been a long time coming. 

“Yeah, he’s more than a match for Raphy,” Luke assured him. “Especially when Ralph already has a fractured hand.”

“Fractured?” Sam asked snapping his head over to look at him. 

“I can’t be a hundred percent without an x-ray, but best I could tell yeah. He had me look at it earlier,” Luke said with a smirk. 

“I didn’t mean…”

“No one’s blaming you, Sam. He had it coming,” Michael told him, not taking his eyes off the fight. He was going to make sure it didn’t go too far, and no one got seriously hurt, but he wasn’t taking this away from Gabriel until it reached that point, and waved off anyone who seemed like they were going to intervene. 

It didn’t take long for Gabriel to get the upper hand, sitting on Ralph’s stomach and just punching him over and over with both hands. Ralph had taken a few blows to Gabriel’s middle at first before he abandoned his offense to try and shield himself from as many of Gabriel’s blows as he could. Michael only let that go for a few more seconds before he finally stepped in and pulled Gabriel off his brother, Gabriel struggling against him the whole time. He kept a firm hold though before Gabriel seemed to deflate and shrug him off heatedly before walking off. Sam looked torn at whether to go after him, but Michael just said, “Give him a few minutes to blow off some steam. Then you can chase him down and take him home.”

“Hey Mike. You wanna run Raphy here to the hospital?” Luke asked from where he was kneeling next to him. “I would, but, you know…”

“I know. Wedding night and all,” Michael teased, neither seeming overly concerned about the groaning man on the ground. “I’ll take care of it,” he said before leaning over and hauling Ralph to his feet, supporting him as they walked away. 

“Will he be okay?” Sam asked worriedly as Luke grabbed a towel to wipe the blood off his hands. It wasn’t worry over Ralph. Not in the slightest. It was worry over how Gabriel would feel if he had seriously injured his own brother. 

“He’ll be fine. Best I could tell, a broken nose, some bruised ribs, maybe cracked, but no internal damage, his cheekbone might be fractured, or it might just be a bad bruise, not more than a mild concussion if any at all. They might keep him overnight at the most, but he’ll be right as rain soon enough, and maybe he’ll have finally learned his lesson about messing with Gabriel,” he said with smirk.


	25. Chapter 25

Sam gave it a few minutes, and said his goodbyes to the people he was friendly enough with, gave his congratulations to Luke and Kelly, and then went looking for Gabriel. When he rounded the corner he stopped short and sucked in a breath at the sight that met him. Gabriel was leaning against the Ferrari, suit rumpled, one hand in his pocket, head thrown back and taking a long draw off a cigarette. The fireworks flashing overhead kept casting colored shadows over him and Sam was entranced for a moment before he walked over. “Since when do you smoke?” he asked curiously. 

“I don’t usually. I just…you know,” Gabriel said with a shrug. 

Sam could tell that he wasn’t much in the mood for conversation, so he dropped it. He got the gist anyway. He stepped closer and gasped when he got a better look at Gabriel’s face. He stripped off his jacket and pressed it to his face, trying to clean up some of the blood. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly. Beyond the occasional hiss of pain, Gabriel didn’t react at all to Sam’s cleaning him up, just making Sam even more worried. 

It was a long moment before Gabriel responded to Sam’s question. “I’ll be fine, Samshine. I’ve had worse.” Sam had managed to get enough of him cleaned up to see that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had looked with all the blood covering him. He had a split lip, and a gash over his eyebrow. That eye was almost swollen shut and he had some swelling on his jaw. Sam guessed…hoped…that the blood staining his shirt was either from Ralph or dripped from his eye, because he wasn’t about to strip Gabriel out here to check. Not without some further sign that he was hurt badly at least. 

“Come on. Let’s head home,” Sam said gently. “I’ll drive.” He helped Gabriel get into the car, Gabriel stamping out his cigarette first, not willing to smoke in the car. The twenty-minute drive home was spent in silence, just worrying Sam more and more. He wasn’t sure if Gabriel was in shock or not, but it definitely seemed like it. By the time he got Gabriel into the apartment and started stripping him down, Gabriel still hadn’t said a word, and Sam stuck him in the shower, washing him gently to get all the blood off him before grabbing some ice for that side of his face. “Come on, Angel. Say something?” Sam asked plaintively. 

“What do you want me to say? I just beat my own brother half to death,” Gabriel said emotionlessly. 

“No, you didn’t. Luke checked him over and said he’d be fine and probably wouldn’t stay more than one night in the hospital for observation,” Sam assured him, running a hand gently through his hair. 

“I would have killed him,” Gabriel said haunted. “If Michael hadn’t…I would have…”

“None of us were going to let it go that far, Gabe,” Sam told him, glad that Ralph hadn’t been hurt more than he was, or it would completely tear Gabriel up inside. 

“I’m not even sorry…” Gabriel said in almost a whisper. “I could have killed my brother and I’m not even sorry.”

Sam felt his heart break as he realized what the real problem was. “Gabriel, look at me,” he said firmly, pulling Gabriel’s face around gently to do so when he didn’t respond. “Gabriel,” he said again. “You know just as well as I do that if it had gone that far, you would be sorry. You lost your temper, and quite frankly he deserved every bit of what he got, and I don’t even know what it was that he did to set you off that time. Whatever you’re thinking of yourself here, is so far off the mark it’s not even in the same hemisphere. You are the most wonderful, caring, kind person I’ve ever known, and you’re not going to convince me otherwise just because you gave an asshole what he had coming. You understand me?” 

“He said…you had a nice ass and wondered if it felt as good as it looked,” Gabriel admitted, not sure if he was defending himself or damning himself, but not really caring at the moment. 

“If he’d said that to me, I would have done the same thing you did, and I definitely wouldn’t have regretted it,” Sam assured him, keeping his own temper under control at that statement. 

“He’d been staring at you all day. Plotting…”

“I know. I was ignoring him. It doesn’t matter how much plotting he’d done. Short of drugging me, there’s not a force in this world that would make me give him the time of day,” Sam assured Gabriel, not sure if he needed that assurance, but wanting to give it anyway. “If it makes you feel better, it turns out I actually did break his hand when he cornered me outside the bathroom. That’s probably why only one side of your face looks like mincemeat,” Sam tried for a joke. 

“So he was already injured when I…”

“Had a perfectly reasonable reaction to his cruel taunting and threats,” Sam cut him off. “He’d already been smacked down once. More than once if you count the heated conversation I saw between him and Michael, and he still went poking at the bear. That’s on him.” Sam leaned over to kiss Gabriel, very softly given his split lip, but a kiss just the same, and Sam could almost feel the tension starting to fade from Gabriel’s body just from that one little act. “You are not a bad guy, Gabriel. You are an amazing guy, and don’t let him convince you otherwise. Got it?” 

Gabriel relaxed and leaned into Sam’s side. “Yeah. I got it,” Gabriel said softly. 

“I love you, Angel,” Sam whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Gabriel’s wet mop of hair. 

“I love you, my Samshine,” Gabriel whispered back. 

Sam realized that Gabriel needed this more than he needed more medical care at the moment, so he just held him for a good long while. When he heard Gabriel’s breathing start to even out, he pulled the ice from his face and asked, “How are your ribs? You think we need to wrap them up before bed?” Sam asked. He could see the purpled bruising spreading across his chest already. 

Gabriel winced as he tried to sit up. “Yeah. Probably wouldn’t hurt,” he admitted. 

“Do you think we should have you checked out at the hospital?” Sam asked concerned, now that Gabriel could actually give him an assessment. 

“Nah. I’ll be alright,” Gabriel told him. “Worst case scenario I’ll see a doctor Monday, but there’s nothing that needs immediate attention.”

“Okay. If you’re sure,” Sam said grabbing some ace bandages from the cabinet to wrap Gabriel’s chest before settling him into bed. Sam laid down with him, but wasn’t really sleepy yet, so he just laid there holding Gabriel for a good long while before he heard Gabriel’s phone ringing. When he glanced at it, he saw that it was Michael. If it was anyone else he wouldn’t have answered, but in this case, he grabbed the phone and answered before the ringing could wake Gabriel up, and whispered, “Hey, hang on,” as he slipped silently out of bed and into the other room. “Hi Michael. This is Sam.”

“Hey Sam. How’s Gabe?” he asked. 

“Physically or emotionally?” Sam asked drolly. “He’s sleeping now.”

“Both,” Michael said before adding. “Good. I’m sure he needed it.”

“Yeah, he was pretty rung out. It took a little convincing to make him see that he wasn’t a monster after beating his brother so badly, but I think I got him snapped out of it. At least for now. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. He was pretty much in shock the whole way home. Didn’t say a word for over an hour. Physically, he seems okay. Beat up pretty bad. His eye’s almost swollen shut and his jaw is swollen pretty bad. I put some ice on it, and wrapped his ribs. He’s pretty sure they’re just bruised, but promised to see a doctor Monday if they get worse. He’s also got a split lip and a gash in his eyebrow, but nothing major,” Sam updated him. “How’s Ralph?” 

“Bout what Luke figured. Two cracked ribs, a few more bruised. His cheekbone is just bruised, but his jaw and hand are fractured, and his nose is broken. No concussion though. Other than that, just a lot of bruising,” Michael told him. 

“Good. Gabe’ll be glad to hear it,” Sam said relieved. “There’s not gonna be any legal trouble over this right?” he asked, knowing that technically since Gabriel threw the first punch and broke his nose, Ralph could press charges for assault. 

“Not a chance. Even if Ralph would brave Dad’s wrath to go there, I would shut it down real quick by promising a beating twice as bad as this one,” Michael assured him. 

“Good. When Gabriel told me what Ralph said…Let’s just say it was a good thing he didn’t say it to my face,” Sam said. 

“What did he say?” Michael asked. “I saw him talking to Gabriel, but was too far away to hear.”

Sam related what Gabriel had told him and Michael practically growled. “I almost wish I hadn’t pulled Gabriel off of him now.” Michael took a deep breath for calm before he said. “Take good care of him, Sam. Have him call me tomorrow? Or you can call me if he gets down in the dumps again and won’t.”

“I will, Michael. Thanks,” Sam said before hanging up and slipping back into the room and climbing back into bed with Gabriel, pulling him close once more. 

“Whowazat?” Gabriel murmured sleepily. 

“That was Michael,” Sam told him. “Ralph is fine, and he wanted to check on you. You can call him tomorrow,” Sam told him. 

“Kay. Love you, Sammy,” Gabriel slurred. 

“And I love you, Angel. Go back to sleep,” Sam whispered.


	26. Chapter 26

The next day was spent just relaxing around the apartment. Gabriel called Michael and had to assure him he was okay, get reassured that no one held it against him, and get an update on Ralph who had already been released from the hospital with a much healthier respect for Gabriel’s temper. It was just after lunch when Dean called Sam to let him know he’d found the car he wanted and wanted to bring it by. Sam had decided to use some of the check from Luke to buy his own car. Granted his office was only a fifteen-minute walk from the apartment, but he and Gabriel often travelled farther on dates, and Gabriel wasn’t a big fan of driving his flashy car around to mundane places, so this would give them another option. 

Sam asked him to bring the keys by Gabriel’s apartment and just park it outside the building. He wasn’t leaving Gabriel today. He hadn’t quite fallen back into the same melancholy as before, but he still wasn’t exactly up to snuff. Dean got there about half an hour later and Sam answered the door, inviting Dean in. “Whew. Nice place,” he said appreciatively as he looked around before Gabriel came limping over. 

“Deano. Welcome to my humble abode,” he said cheerfully, and Sam turned around.

“What are you doing up? You should be resting. And you’re limping. Were you limping last night?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“Geez. Ease up, mother hen,” Dean laughed even as he looked Gabriel over. Gabriel was just wearing a pair of sweatpants, so all the bruises were in full view except for the ones that were hidden by the bandages around his ribs. His face looked even worse today, with more colors added to the mix, though the swelling was down slightly. 

“Not sure,” Gabriel answered Sam’s last question. “My chest was rather taking up most of my attention last night, but I think I twisted my knee when he tackled me. I just needed to get some more ice.”

“I’ll get you some ice,” Sam promised. “Your ribs feeling better today then?” 

“It doesn’t feel like knives in my chest when I breathe anymore so that’s better,” he said in answer to Sam’s question before limping back to the living room and Sam went over to get another ice pack. 

“What the hell happened to him?” Dean asked in a concerned whisper. 

“He got in a fight with his brother last night,” Sam told him. 

“Not that one that got married…” 

“No. The asshole one,” Dean told him. 

“What happened?” he asked. 

“Ralph made a move on me first and I broke his hand but then he went after Gabriel, talking about what he wanted to do to me and Gabriel flipped. Ralph ended up in the hospital,” Sam said proudly. 

“The same brother that slept around with his ex-fiance was trying to do it again?” Dean asked disgusted. Sam nodded. “He needed to end up in the hospital. Good for Gabe.” Dean’s respect for Gabriel just grew with that. Sam had mentioned that all Gabriel’s brothers looked more like Sam than like Gabriel, so putting one of them in the hospital was quite the achievement. “Well I’ll let you get back to it. Let me know if you have any troubles with the car. I already looked it over, so it should be good, but I didn’t do a deep dive.” 

“Alright. Thanks Dean. And thanks for finding it for me,” Sam told him. He figured since he had the money he could spring for his dream car. A fully restored blue ‘72 Dodge Dart Demon. It had taken a bit of doing to find though, and only Dean’s connections could have come up with it so fast. Sam spent the rest of the day curled up with Gabriel, waiting on him hand and foot. Gabriel insisted on going to work tomorrow. Apparently, he had a busy day and a few special orders to fulfill with recipes that only he knew, but he promised to take it easy and let everyone else help with what they could. In return, he had to rest all day today. 

Sam made sure he had an early day on Monday, putting off whatever he could, so he could make it back when Gabriel closed up for the day. All that week, Sam didn’t go to his own apartment at all except to grab clothes, but by the next weekend, Gabriel was mostly healed and had come to a conclusion and he brought it up on Saturday morning over breakfast again. “So I was thinking…” he started nervously. “What if…you were to stay here…like during the week too. I mean…you could keep your apartment and all…maybe sublet it to one of your friends if you want…at least for a while…kind of a trial basis type thing…then we could see each other during the week too…it would be easier to mph,” Gabriel’s rambling was cut off by a kiss. 

“You’re serious? You really want me to move in with you? On a trial basis, I mean,” Sam asked, eyes bright with glee. Gabriel just nodded, and Sam kissed him again. “I like that idea. I mean, I’ll still keep my apartment, just in case, but I can rent it out to Garth. He’s been looking for a place, and he’s probably the only one of my only friends I can trust not to trash it. I mean…I’m here more than I’m home anyway so this just makes sense, right?” It was Sam’s turn to start babbling. Part of Sam was telling him that they’d only been together for two months. It was too soon, but it wasn’t like he was making a full commitment to this idea. That’s why he was keeping his own apartment. Despite how soon it was, it still felt right, and Sam liked Gabriel’s idea that if it feels right then it’s not too soon since everyone functions at different paces. Even his thoughts were rambling, he realized with a smile. 

“Most of your clothes are already here I think, but I know you’ve got other stuff you’ll want to bring, so how about you go get what you need together while I clean out some more space in the closet and dresser and get my desk cleaned off for you and then I’ll come help you bring everything over,” he suggested. 

“Perfect,” Sam said with a grin, pressing another excited kiss to Gabriel’s lips as he rushed to do just that. Once that was done, he called Garth and made the offer to stay at his apartment. Six months later he had the lease transferred to Garth’s name and sold him all the furniture cheap. 

It was a few months after that, when Sam was definitely grateful for that check from Luke because it meant that he didn’t have to skimp on the biggest purchase of his life. He walked into the bakery as usual before work, but he had already put in for today off, unknown to Gabriel. As he came in, he saw the kid behind the counter pull out his phone to take pictures, Sam having arranged this with him beforehand. He didn’t tell him exactly what he was planning, just to have his camera ready when Sam came in. Instead of pictures though, he decided to get video. He could always pull pictures from the video, but he suspected this was gonna be a video worthy moment. 

When Gabriel came out from the back, bits of flour splattered adorably across his face, Sam couldn’t have planned it better. He looked perfect. “So I need to order a wedding cake,” Sam told him trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. 

Gabriel looked surprised for a second and asked curiously, “Okay. Who’s getting married?” 

“Well that depends,” Sam said feeling his courage start to fail him. 

“On what?” Gabriel asked confused. 

“On what you say,” Sam said and he could see a hint of hopeful comprehension dawning on Gabriel’s face as he took a deep breath and gathered the last of his bravado, and got down on one knee pulling a ring out of his pocket. “Will you marry me?” It not only took the last of his bravado, but apparently the last of his breath as well, because he couldn’t manage to force any air past his lips as he waited for Gabriel to respond, but he was just standing there gaping at him for a long moment. 

Just as Sam wondered if he was going to pass out before he got a response, Gabriel said, “Yes,” and dove into his arms, nearly tackling him to the floor, kissing him senseless. He was usually good at keeping those things PG while in his place of business, but this time no one was complaining when it reached well into PG-13 territory and the few young kids present just found a hand placed over their eyes by smiling parents as the two men kissed each other deeply, both kneeling on the floor now. Still, when it became clear that they had forgotten where they were when the kiss didn’t end, one of Gabriel’s bakers, all of whom had come out of the back room at the commotion, cleared his throat loudly, startling them apart.

“Yes?” Sam asked just to confirm, holding out the ring. 

“Yes,” Gabriel said, nodding so hard he was surprised his head didn’t fall off as he slid his finger into the ring. One more, shorter and not quite as explicit kiss later, and they were both getting up off the floor. “So, about this wedding cake…when do you think you’ll be needing it by?” Gabriel asked picking up the joke from before. 

Sam huffed a laugh. “What do you think of New Years?” Sam asked. “Would that be a good time for cake?” 

“I think it would be perfect,” Gabriel said with a grin. A new husband for a new year. And that gave them six months to plan. 

“So, what do you say we get out of here and go celebrate?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“But your work…” 

“I put in for the day off,” Sam told him. 

“But my work…”

“I can cover today,” Bart told him stepping forward, glad to help out. 

“What would you have done if I said no,” Gabriel asked with a laugh at how well Sam planned this. 

“Spent my day off drowning my sorrows in a very large bottle of whiskey,” Sam told him, with his own laugh. 

“Then I guess your liver should thank me for saying yes,” Gabriel teased as the walked out the door. 

“More than my liver is thanking you for saying yes,” Sam said leaning down for another kiss, causing them to nearly walk into the door, and a lot of laughs trailing behind them.


	27. Chapter 27

Six months later found Sam and Gabriel both standing in white tuxedos on Gabriel’s families lawn. Michael, as the eldest brother, was standing for Gabriel just as he had for Luke, though Luke was in the front row with Kelly. They had decided to only have a best man each and no other groomsmen, so as to avoid this becoming a circus, so Dean was standing for Sam. Luke’s son, Jack, was the ring bearer, but being less than a year old, Caspian was also a ring bearer, despite being technically too old and carrying his baby cousin down the aisle. Analise was, of course, the flower girl and was very excited to wear her pretty dress and throw flower petals. 

This one was much more formal than Luke’s had been, having been planned as an actual wedding rather than a party that was hastily converted, which meant that there were actual aisles instead of people sitting around the tables. Also in the front row was Gabriel’s father with tears in his eyes. They didn’t have a much closer relationship than they had before, but progress had been made once Gabriel understood where it was coming from. They had, in fact, managed to find a somewhat decent system of using Sam as a go-between. That way Chuck could still keep up with his son’s life and Gabriel could still know that he cared. It was strange, but it seemed to work for them. 

Ralph had not only not been invited, but threatened with dismemberment should he dare to show up. On Sam’s side in the front row were Walt, Roy, and Garth. Jo had also been rather forcefully not invited. Other than that, it was a very small wedding. All of Gabriel’s employees from the bakery were there, as were some of Sam’s work friends from the firm, but that was about it. All in all, there were less than thirty people not in the wedding. Just the way Sam and Gabriel wanted it. 

They had both written their own vows, and Gabriel went first. “When you came crashing into my life,” his emphasis on the word crashing getting some chuckles from the few members of the audience who knew how they met, “I had no idea that you would soon become the most important person in it. I hadn’t even realized how lonely I had been until you broke past all my walls and somehow ended up firmly entrenched in my heart in record time. You were the missing piece I had been waiting my whole life for, and being with you has always been as easy as breathing. I will spend the rest of my life loving you with everything that I am, no matter what obstacles may spring up in our path. I love you, my sweet Samshine. For the rest of forever.”

Sam blinked back his tears before starting his own vows. “When we met, I thought you were the strangest, and also most intriguing person in the world, and it took me less than twenty-four hours to be hooked on you, less than a month to love you, and less than a year to be completely certain that you were the rest of my life. We’ve had good times and bad, but no matter what was thrown at us, we came through it stronger, and we will always continue to do so. You are my Angel, in every way, and I will love you for as long as I exist.”

After that, the officiant walked them through the standard vows and then exchanging the rings. Sam got completely lost in Gabriel’s eyes as he slipped the ring on with a quiet, “With this ring I thee wed,” followed by the same from Gabriel, and it was a good thing the next words out of the officiant’s mouth were, “You may now kiss your husband,” because there was no stopping it anyway. The applause of the guests became nothing more than background noise, even the wolf-whistles of Walt and Roy. Before they got too lost in it and forgot where they were, Dean and Michael looked at each other before grinning and each of them smacked their brother on the back to bring them back to present. 

Sam and Gabriel decided to cut the cake immediately following the ceremony, while the house staff moved all the chairs off what would become the dance floor. Sam held Gabriel back for a moment before they cut into the cake, just taking a moment to look at it. They had taken a page from the book of the first wedding cake Sam had seen Gabriel design and had silhouetted scenes showing on each tier. Theirs was only three tiers though instead of five so only two scenes. The first tier showed a shape falling in a window, then laying on the floor while the second shape stood there with a baseball bat. The second tier played out Sam’s proposal, starting with him on one knee with the ring, and the final of the four-picture sequence showed them both kneeling on the floor as Sam slid the ring on Gabriel’s finger. The third tier was done up in different designs and swirls and the topper looked very much like the two of them dancing. 

After their first dance, they got up on stage and Gabriel took the mic first. “First of all, we would like to thank everyone for coming and sharing this day with us, and especially thank those of you who are taking over our workloads so we can have a nice honeymoon,” he said raising his glass in a toast with a grin. “But the biggest thanks of all go to someone who has been as yet unnoticed, but was instrumental in our meeting, so thank you Walt, for getting Sam drunk and giving him an ill-advised dare.” 

Those who knew of their meeting roared with laughter as Walt yelled “You’re welcome!” 

“For those of you who don’t know, Sam and I have decided to share the story of the night we met. Sam?” Gabriel said motioning for him to start. 

Sam just shook his head at Gabriel’s antics before he started the story. “Well, as Gabriel mentioned…it was all Walt’s fault. We were out drinking, celebrating my graduation from law school and Walt waited until I was completely smashed and then dared me to break into my brother’s apartment and rearrange his furniture. Unfortunately, or fortunately as they case may be, I was far too drunk to remember where my brother lived. I went to what I thought was his building, scaled the fire escape, jimmied the window open and promptly fell in.”

Gabriel took over the story at that point. “I had been sleeping when I heard a crash, so I grabbed a baseball bat and rushed out of my room to find a bleeding man lying in a pile of broken dishes, and I was just completely flustered for a moment. My dog, Oreo, rest his soul, happened to be an excellent judge of character, and he immediately jumped on the nearly unconscious man and started licking his face. It wasn’t until he looked up and said, ‘you’re not Dean,’ that I realized what must have happened, so I just got him off the floor, dumped him on the couch and decided to deal with it in the morning.”

Sam took back over then. “So, I woke up to find that not only had I broken into the wrong apartment, but the apartment owner had let me stay on his couch, covered me up in a comfortable blanket, and was even making me breakfast and I don’t think I’ve ever been more confused in my life. I was so grateful not to be going to jail that when he said I could buy him dinner to pay him back for the things I broke in my tumble through the window, that I immediately said yes, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Even the people who’d heard the story before were crying in laughter, and those who’d never heard it were having difficulty staying in their seats, even as Michael came up and took the mic. “Thanks for setting the bar here guys,” he said sarcastically as he started the first of two best man speeches, followed by Dean, though neither quite packed the same punch as the story of how they met, which would be one for the ages.


End file.
